Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed got a hostile reception at yesterday's session of the Russian Duma, the first since the summer recess. Lebed, summoned to give an account of the Khasavyurt peace accords he signed with Chechen chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov at the end... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who is expected to be out of the public eye for several months while undergoing heart surgery, plans to keep in touch with the population through regular radio addresses. The first was broadcast this morning. Yeltsin assured listeners that he remains... MORE

. A Committee for the rights of arrested Islamic activists held a news conference in a mosque close to Baku yesterday. The group appealed to President Haydar Aliev to approve on medical grounds the release on bail of nine Party of Islam activists who were... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday instructed Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to call a meeting of the presidents of the Central Asian countries to discuss the situation in the region following the downfall of the Kabul government. Also yesterday, a high-level interagency meeting at the Foreign... MORE

Rhetoric from Russia's Defense Ministry on the subject of NATO enlargement grew hard again yesterday as defense chief Igor Rodionov warned that Moscow would view enlargement as a violation of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and might cease reductions of its own military... MORE

Officials of Russia's CIS Cooperation Ministry and customs service said yesterday that the 20 percent Russian value-added tax on goods imported from Ukraine went into effect on October 1. Moscow's move ignores Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma's appeal to Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin at their... MORE

A large group of wives and mothers of Armenian opposition leaders arrested or wanted by the authorities have issued an appeal to international organizations. It calls for an independent review of the presidential election returns, the release of those arrested, and the reinstatement of civil... MORE

Amid reports of growing disgruntlement in the ranks of Russia's armed forces, President Boris Yeltsin yesterday took steps to address the army's worsening financial situation. During a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin at the Central Clinical Hospital near Moscow, Yeltsin ordered the convening of... MORE

Aleksandr Korzhakov continues to make headlines in the Russian media. Once President Yeltsin's closest confidant and reputed drinking buddy, the former head of the Presidential Security Service was ignominiously sacked in June. Now, rumors of a new alliance with Kremlin security chief Aleksandr Lebed, originally... MORE

There is as yet no news about when Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiev will make his long awaited visit to Moscow, though his aide is already there to prepare for the visit. Yandarbiev was originally expected on September 23, but the visit was postponed because of... MORE