Despite the recent assurances from the Finance Ministry, money does not seem to be making its way into the pockets of the Russian Ground Forces. A military source reported yesterday that troops in all 8 military districts had not received salaries for August, September, and... MORE

A leading Moscow daily cites Christopher Donnelly, special assistant to the NATO secretary-general, as saying in an interview that the alliance has "already decided in principle that it should admit Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania." Russian opposition will not block that process because "the Baltic states... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin plans to visit Chechnya in the near future and to meet with Chechnya's provisional government. This subject was discussed during Chernomyrdin's meeting yesterday with Ivan Rybkin, Russia's security council secretary. Rybkin said the meeting also focused on the possibility of... MORE

As Yeltsin prepares for major surgery, Russian Television is recasting Viktor Chernomyrdin's image, presumably with an eye to the possibility that the prime minister may take over the president's functions. With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Independent Television (NTV) last night screened a saccharine... MORE

The first in the new Boreas-class of Russian ballistic-missile submarines is to be named the Yuri Dolgoruki after the traditional founder of the city of Moscow, Prince Yuri Dolgoruki. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhov has agreed to sponsor the project and both the workers building the... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov arrived yesterday in Damascus to begin a five-nation tour of Middle East capitals that has been billed by Moscow as part of an effort to reassert itself as a player in the region. But if Washington's dominant role in the... MORE

Representatives of the eleven member countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) group met in Moscow on October 25. Founded in 1992, the group includes Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. Representatives of Austria, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Poland,... MORE

Final returns of the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary elections indicate that Fatherland Union/Lithuanian Conservatives are headed for an absolute majority in parliament, either singly or jointly with their ally, the Christian Democratic party. Fatherland Union won 33 seats and the Christian Democrats 11 seats,... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma yesterday appointed Rear Admiral Mikhaylo Yezhel as commander in chief of Ukraine's naval forces. Yezhel, whose name had been put forward by Defense Minister Aleksandr Kuzmuk, was concurrently appointed deputy defense minister. Rear Admiral Viktor Fomin was appointed first deputy naval commander.... MORE

Ambassador Feliks Kovalev, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's working group on Caspian issues, announced yesterday that Russia has decided to accept the delimitation of national sectors and economic zones in that sea up to 40 miles from the shore. Beyond that limit, Moscow continues... MORE