Representatives of Russia's various secret services yesterday dismissed a report published in the German magazine Focus. The report claimed that a Russian intelligence officer had defected and turned over to the British information from KGB archives about a network of spies in Western Europe. The... MORE

Retired Lt. Col. Gennadi Osipovich, the Soviet fighter who shot down Korean Airlines flight 007 13 years ago, has admitted that he identified the plane as a commercial Boeing 747 and not a spy plane. He also said he did not pass this information on... MORE

In their most stinging raid yet, Georgian guerrillas have killed three Abkhaz officers and seriously wounded two others in the Gali district, Abkhaz authorities acknowledged yesterday. Those authorities reserved the right to retaliate against Tbilisi, and complained about the failure of Russian "peacekeepers'" to intercept... MORE

UN-mediated talks between Tajik president Imomali Rahmonov and United Tajik Opposition leader Saidabdullo Nuri began today in northern Afghanistan after a day's delay. The UN-chartered plane bringing Nuri's party from Mashhad (Iran) was forced down yesterday by the Taliban, and the UTO delegation was brought... MORE

At its session last week, the Russian Duma decided to postpone voting on the government's revised draft of the 1997 federal budget until December 15, that is, after the national holiday set for December 12-13. Except for the pro-government "Russia is Our Home" and Vladimir... MORE

Nadir Khachilaev, who since the beginning of this year has been chairman of the Union of the Muslims of Russia (UMR), was elected to the Russian Duma on December 8 from a constituency in his native Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan. Khachilaev was elected to the... MORE

Russian Ground Forces commander-in-chief Army General Vladimir Semenov remained in limbo over the weekend, as new allegations were voiced to justify his dismissal but a commission on top defense appointments apparently failed to resolve the case. Russia's Defense Ministry had announced Semenov's sacking on December... MORE

Iranian and Russian trade officials on December 5 announced the signing of a broad-ranging protocol aimed at boosting bilateral economic relations. The agreement, which calls for Tehran to purchase tens of millions of dollars worth of Russian subway cars and technical equipment, came during a... MORE

In the course of the December 8 pro-independence and democracy demonstration in Minsk (see Monitor, December 9), Syamyon Sharetsky, chairman of the forcibly dissolved parliament, requested international support for the Belarusan opposition, "which resists a dictatorship in the heart of Europe." That opposition is now... MORE

Rear Adm. Aleksandr Javakhishvili, the commander of the fledgling Georgian Navy, was fired on December 8, ending more than a month's confusion over his status. On November 6 Georgian sources reported that he had submitted his resignation, something official sources later denied. The 64-year-old admiral... MORE