At a regular session in Geneva of the UN Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and protection of ethnic minorities, Russian delegate Sergey Berezny attacked Estonia and Latvia for denying automatic citizenship to their "Russian-speaking populations." This policy "aims to eliminate the consequences of the natural... MORE

Leaders of Russia's coalworkers' union decided over the weekend not to go ahead with today's threatened nationwide strike. (NTV, August 23) Union leaders called off the strike after meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and receiving promises that all wage arrears would be paid to... MORE

Representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchy of Constantinople and of the Russian Orthodox Church's Moscow Patriarchy have reached a tentative agreement on the canonical subordination of Estonia's Orthodox congregations. Following several days of talks in Tallinn, the two delegations and clerics from Estonia agreed that there... MORE

A top U.S. military commander said on August 23 that internal problems faced by Russia's strategic nuclear forces would probably drop the total number of Russian nuclear warheads to about 3,500 by the year 2005, whether Moscow ratifies the START-2 Treaty or not. General Eugene... MORE

In a sign of rising tension between Russia's regular armed forces and both the Finance Ministry and the nation's other "power" agencies, Russia's defense minister complained on August 23 that the army is getting short-changed in this year's budget battle while scarce resources are being... MORE

Aleksandr Nikitin, the former Russian sailor who was arrested in February on espionage charges for work done in collaboration with the Norwegian environmental organization Bellona, has lost an appeal contesting his continued incarceration in Russia. (Russian TV, August 23) Bellona has been investigating potential environmental... MORE

On the basis of a decree issued by Boris Yeltsin, on August 23 Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin presented various state awards for heroism to the seven crew members of the Il-76 cargo plane who recently escaped from more than a year of captivity in Afghanistan.... MORE

Boris Yeltsin's 15-year-old grandson is to be enrolled at one of England's most exclusive private schools -- Millfield in Somerset -- where he will spend three years brushing up his English and preparing for university-entrance examinations. (The Sunday Times [London], August 25) Chechnya Cease-fire Holding,... MORE

Russia's commander in chief in Chechnya. Lt. General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, and Chechen chief of staff Aslan Maskhadov are due to meet today and to sign a document implementing the cease-fire agreement signed by Russia's highest security official Aleksandr Lebed with Maskhadov on August 23. The... MORE

On Saturday evening, while arguing with men selling watermelons on a Moscow street, one of Russia's star athletes was knifed in the abdomen. He is recovering in a Moscow hospital, but will be moved to a presidential clinic today. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin expressed outrage... MORE