The Russian air force did not get a single new aircraft in 1996, according to an unnamed source at air force headquarters. In addition, it could not properly maintain the planes it already has. Average availability fell to 53 percent and some 3,000 planes and... MORE

The Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg will start building 3 diesel submarines for the Russian navy next year and has 2 more "special orders" for 1998. It also plans to produce a new-generation submarine by the year 2000. That project is unusual in that the... MORE

The workers at the Kronshtadt shipyards, near St. Petersburg, have found that winning a court case to receive their unpaid wages is one thing--getting their employer to pay the 4 month's salaries owed is another. The shipyard, the principle repair yard for the Baltic Fleet,... MORE

When the 54 disparate countries that make up the Organization for Security and

The muddle in Russia's Ministry of Defense over the unexpected sacking of Ground Forces commander-in-chief Vladimir Semenov has apparently spilled over into Russia's relations with the U.S. According to unofficial reports out of the MoD yesterday, Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov has decided to postpone... MORE

Chechen prime minister Aslan Maskhadov yesterday ordered the high command of the Chechen armed forces to guarantee the security of the Russian units withdrawing from Chechnya. Federal troops must, the document states, be withdrawn by January 27. (RTR, December 3) Chechen deputy premier Movladi Udugov... MORE

Russian coal miners are in the second day of a nationwide strike for unpaid wages. Vitaly Budko, leader of the Russian Independent Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers, said yesterday that about 400,000 of the industry's 560,000 workers were on strike in 181 of Russia's... MORE

The governor of Saratov oblast, Dmitri Ayatskov, has become the first of Russia's regional leaders to set up a Security Council in his region. (Itar-Tass, December 3) The council, modeled on the national agency, will be responsible for protecting human rights, state, economic and ecological... MORE

The Russian Duma will discuss a number of changes in the present tax laws. These modifications were proposed during meetings of the conciliatory commission, where representatives of the legislative and executive powers tried to reach a consensus on the 1997 Russian state budget. The revision... MORE

The Moldovan parliament yesterday approved the resignation of Andrei Sangheli's cabinet of ministers, instructing it to continue as caretaker until the January 15 inauguration of President-Elect Petru Lucinschi and the formation of a new cabinet. Addressing the parliament, Sangheli regretted the cabinet's -- and his... MORE