Lenin's mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square has closed for two months so that embalmers can give his body its annual check-up. (AP, January 29) Moscow Warns Balts over U.S. Congress Bill.

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday warned that a U.S. Congress bill submitted last week in support of Baltic aspirations to join NATO "could create obstacles to solving a whole range of problems in Russian-Baltic relations." (Itar-Tass, January 28). The warning reflects Moscow's strategy of maintaining a... MORE

Expressing gratitude for Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov's funding of housing construction for Russian naval personnel in Sevastopol, the Black Sea Fleet's spokesman announced yesterday that Moscow municipality is also "directly supporting the Fleets combat readiness." It currently finances repairs on the fleet's missile cruiser Moskva... MORE

Aslan Maskhadov has claimed victory in Chechnya's presidential election. Final results are not expected until this evening, but preliminary returns give him well over 60 percent of the vote, more than twice the number of his nearest rival, field commander Shamil Basaev. The team of... MORE

There was cautious relief in Moscow at the news of Maskhadov's victory, since the Kremlin sees him as the most moderate and pragmatic of Chechnya's leaders. President Yeltsin issued a statement saying the election offered a "real opportunity for the continuation of productive negotiations" over... MORE

Deputy Duma Speaker Mikhail Gutseriev yesterday announced that an "Anti-NATO" group has been created in the Duma that will use "parliamentary methods" in order "to counteract" NATO's enlargement plans. The new group includes deputies from a number of parliamentary factions united by a desire to... MORE

A Russian delegation met yesterday with leaders of the Serbian opposition in Belgrade. It announced Moscow's support for an OSCE report urging Serbian authorities to recognize victories by the opposition in last fall's municipal elections. Opposition leaders praised Moscow's stand, but questioned why Russia had... MORE

The Cypriot Republic is not interested in buying Russian Tor-M1 anti-aircraft systems, its minister of defense said on Monday. Costas Eliades expressed surprise at an Itar-Tass report in which an unnamed Russian general said Moscow was planning to offer the missiles to the Cypriots. (Xinhua,... MORE

Russian TV yesterday showed a brief clip of President Boris Yeltsin's meeting in the Kremlin with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Yeltsin, making his first public appearance for three weeks, looked frail but alert. His spokesman said the president spent three hours in the Kremlin yesterday... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin arrives in Switzerland today for a four-day official visit. In addition to meeting with the Swiss government, he will deliver a speech at the World Economic Forum which opens in Davos tomorrow. Chernomyrdin is also expected to meet in Davos... MORE