The second round of the Russian presidential election campaign began today in the state-run media. Between now and July 1, when campaigning stops, incumbent Boris Yeltsin and Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov will each receive two hours of free air-time on state-run TV and two hours... MORE

President Yeltsin said in an interview published today that he planned to make further personnel changes. But, he told the weekly newspaper Argumenty i fakty, he will not bring Anatoly Chubais, now a key member of his campaign team, back into the government. Chubais, the... MORE

Ethnic Kyrgyz residents of Tajikistan's Murgab district rallied June 21 outside the district administration building to protest against the recent influx of Tajik refugees into Murgab from areas affected by the civil war. Accusing the administration of tacitly encouraging that migration in order to dilute... MORE

The Georgian press over the weekend cited Russia's ousted defense minister, General Pavel Grachev, as saying that he has many friends in Defense Ministries of CIS countries and is willing to take up a position in one of those countries. Georgia's defense minister, Lt.-General Vardiko... MORE

Nadibaidze apparently did not mention at the briefing that Moscow expects basing rights in Georgia as a quid-pro-quo for military materiel it plans to provide. The command of Georgia's would-be air force announced that it is negotiating with Moscow for the delivery of Russian combat... MORE

Turkmen president Saparmurad Niazov told a session of the State Defense and Security Council last week that corruption was rife within the country's military and security bodies. Niazov cited information on arms theft and sale, extortion and bribery (the equivalent of $4,000 for individual exemptions... MORE

Russia encountered its second failed satellite space launch in less than two months last week when a Soyuz-U booster rocket carrying a military satellite failed shortly after take-off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia. Another Soyuz-U booster failed to get into orbit following its... MORE

Speaking at an international seminar in Warsaw on NATO's enlargement, Estonian prime minister Tiit Vahi and Latvian foreign minister Valdis Birkavs urged NATO to formulate and make public soon a concept for meeting the security needs of countries that will not be included in the... MORE

Newly-named Russian Security Council secretary Aleksandr Lebed does not plan to implement any reductions in the council's staff, Kremlin sources said June 21. However, work is currently proceeding to combine the administrations of the council and the Russian president's national security staff, the same sources... MORE

According to Aleksandr Lebed, Boris Yeltsin will choose a new defense minister sometime today or tomorrow. Duma deputy Boris Gromov appears to have dropped off of the media's latest contenders list. Russian TV reported that General Staff Academy chief Igor Rodionov, Border Forces commander Andrei... MORE