Several thousand supporters of Belarus independence rallied in Minsk yesterday to celebrate the Day of Belarus Military Glory, on the anniversary of the historic battle of Orsha (1514). The participants denounced president Aleksandr Lukashenko's draft constitution as aimed at establishing a "totalitarian system" and at... MORE

Chechnya's independence day -- celebrated on Friday, September 6 -- passed relatively peacefully. As Maskhadov had promised Lebed, there were no military parades in Grozny and only religious services were held. Order was maintained on the streets of the capital by joint patrols and federal... MORE

Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiev has the creation of a new coalition government as agreed to by Maskhadov and Lebed in their meeting on September 5 meeting. Who will lead the new government has not been revealed but it is widely expected to be Yandarbiev. (Interfax,... MORE

Federal forces began to pull out of Chechnya yesterday. At the request of Chechen military leader Aslan Maskhadov, the 133rd tank battalion -- which had taken part in all the biggest battles of the war and is said to be one of the most feared... MORE

Interviewed on Russian Television on Friday evening (September 6), Aleksandr Lebed called on President Yeltsin to transfer his presidential powers to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin while he has his heart operation at the end of September. (NTV, September 6) Lebed thus added his voice to... MORE

In a major speech delivered in Germany on September 6, U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher reaffirmed America's commitment to a strong role in Europe's security, called for the convening next year of a NATO summit at which new members would begin the actual accession... MORE

Russia's Military Prosecutor's Office is currently investigating nearly 100 "highly-placed officers" from the country's Defense Ministry on corruption and embezzlement charges, an unnamed official from the Prosecutor's Office said on Saturday. Those under suspicion include 14 generals and more than 80 colonels. (Interfax, September 7)... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry criticized Ankara on September 7 over a Turkish plan to set up a security zone in northern Iraq. A ministry statement said the plan represents a "serious violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state" and called upon the Turkish government... MORE

A substantial majority in the Belarus parliament has moved into the forefront of resistance to President Aleksandr Lukashenko's plans to institute personal rule (see Monitor, September 5). The parliament this week resolved to go ahead with the byelections needed to fill vacant parliamentary seats, in... MORE

In the first official Baltic reactions, Lithuanian foreign minister Povilas Gylys and Estonian Foreign Ministry political director Riina Kionka have commented unenthusiastically on U.S. deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott's Baltic Action Plan, which the U.S. billed as an enhancement of the region's security. (see... MORE