The Union of Muslims of Russia (UMR) hopes to establish a Muslim faction in the Russian Duma. At present, most of the 26 Muslim members of the Russian parliament belong to the pro-government "Russia is Our Home" faction. Formation of a Muslim faction will be... MORE

Sources close to Aleksandr Lebed say he will announce plans to found a political party at a conference of supporters on December 26. They also expect Lebed to announce that he will run for election as Governor of Tula oblast. (Interfax, December 12) Meanwhile, Thomas... MORE

Russian military authorities say 1,198 servicemen have gone missing in Chechnya since the Russian military intervention began on December 12, 1994. (Radio Russia, December 11) Duma Leader Calls for Measures Against Prospective NATO Members.

The chairman of the Russian Duma's Security Committee said on December 11 that Moscow should consider retargeting its nuclear missiles on Eastern European and former Soviet states desirous of joining NATO if the alliance proceeds with plans to accept new members. Viktor Ilyukhin, of the... MORE

The Ukrainian parliament yesterday resolved to create a special commission to investigate a U.S. newspaper's allegation of Ukrainian arms dealings with Libya. (See Monitor, December 10-11) The Communist party's parliamentary group initiated the move hoping to embarrass the government. The majority at first rejected it,... MORE

Ukraine's consul in Georgia yesterday denounced as "piracy" the seizure of a Ukrainian cargo ship by Russian warships attached to the Russian border troops in Georgia's port of Batumi. The Russians seized the "Almaz" on December 4, detained the captain, and flew the other 10... MORE

Hard on the heels of president Aleksandr Lukashenko's assumption of absolute powers, the state has launched a special-issue postage stamp bearing Lukashenko's portrait. One Lukashenko costs 2,500 Belarus rubles, which amounts to not quite 11 US cents. (Belapan, December 10). Minsk wags now refer to... MORE

Speculation is rife in Moscow that Russia's political and military leaderships are discussing plans that would radically restructure and reduce the country's entire military establishment. According to the newspaper Izvestiya, a reform program drafted by officers from Russia's General Staff outlines a two-stage period of... MORE

President Ruslan Aushev of the north Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia has named Belan Khamchiev as Ingushetia's new prime minister and instructed him to form a new government. (Itar-Tass, December 10) Aushev shocked both Moscow and Nazran on December 9 when he sacked almost the entire... MORE

Following a decision taken on December 11, the Independent Miners' Trade Union yesterday ended the strike that the coal miners had launched on December 3. Support for the strike had been dwindling in recent days. In Rostov, however, the regional miners committee said it intended... MORE