Oversight of environmental issues has been split off from the new Ministry of Natural Resources and Viktor Danilov-Danelyan, who formerly combined both portfolios, is to chair the newly created State Committee for Environmental Protection. (Rossiiskie vesti, August 27) Calls for Resignation of Dagestani Government.

There is growing outrage in Dagestan, in southern Russia, following the assassination of the republic's finance minister, Hamid Hamidov, in a car bomb explosion on August 20. (See Monitor, August 20) Speakers at a press conference yesterday in the capital, Makhachkala, alleged that Hamidov had... MORE

More details have been revealed about the August 24-25 abduction of the speaker of the Crimean parliament, Yevhen Suprunyuk, but no explanation has yet been offered as to the motives of the alleged assault. Suprunyuk claims the attack was politically motivated, but some Crimean parliamentarians,... MORE

The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin and Pavlo Lazarenko, registered disagreements on long-unresolved issues at a meeting in Moscow yesterday. The first since the formation of the two countries' new cabinets, the meeting produced agreement only on unspecified "scientific-technological cooperation," peaceful space... MORE

As the September 1 gubernatorial election draws near in Saratov oblast, the gap between the incumbent Dmitri Ayatskov, and his main challenger, Communist Anatoly Gordeev, is growing wider by the day. The Monitor's correspondent in the region reports that no serious analyst doubts that victory... MORE

The Estonian parliament yesterday held the second and third rounds of balloting to elect the country's president (see Monitor, August 27). The incumbent, Lennart Meri, inched up to 52 votes in the third round, well short of the 68 votes required for reelection. Challenger Arnold... MORE

In an interview with a German newspaper that was published over the weekend, Germany's defense minister described Russia as an important ally for Bonn and other members of NATO. But Volker Ruehe also cautioned that a "strategic partnership" between Russia and the alliance was only... MORE

Funding shortages and a resulting potential fall in safety levels could compel Russia to close some of its nuclear power plants, a spokesman for Rosenergoatom said on August 25. According to the official, Rosenergoatom is owed more than 4 trillion rubles ($750 million), and the... MORE

Attempting to deflect Western criticism of Russian policy in Chechnya, a Foreign Ministry spokesman yesterday said that no country is more interested in a peaceful settlement of the war than Russia itself. The spokesman also said that Moscow respects foreign reactions to developments in Chechnya... MORE

One of Russia's most senior diplomats, Yuri Dubinin, yesterday presented his credentials as Russian ambassador to Ukraine. Dubinin reminded Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma at the ceremony that Russia is important to Ukraine's security. (Interfax-Ukraine, August 27. See also Perspective section below). A former Soviet ambassador... MORE