In a move likely to fuel further speculation of an impending change atop the Defense Ministry, Yeltsin also conferred yesterday with his new military favorite, former deputy defense minister Boris Gromov. A presidential spokesman said that the two discussed Yeltsin's reelection campaign, a tour of... MORE

Ingush president Ruslan Aushev proposed May 21 that Russian troops withdrawn from Chechnya in the event of a peace settlement be relocated in North Ossetia's Prigorodny raion to secure the return of Ingush who have been expelled from their homes there. According to a communique... MORE

A close Yeltsin associate, Vladimir Shumeiko, has written to six presidential candidates urging them to stand aside in Yeltsin's favor. (Interfax, May 23) The six are Svyatoslav Fedorov, Aleksandr Lebed, Mikhail Gorbachev, Grigory Yavlinsky, Martin Shakkum and Vladimir Bryntsalov. Shakkum and Bryntsalov are said already... MORE

In an address to military personnel marking the fourth anniversary of the Russian Army, President Boris Yeltsin admitted that the armed forces face difficulties related to inadequately directed financing, wage arrears, and halting modernization. Pointing to a new military reform effort that was presumably launched... MORE

Kuptsov also complained that the press and the opinion polls are misrepresenting the mood of the electorate. He claimed Zyuganov's "real rating" is presently 10-12 percent above Yeltsin's. (Interfax, May 21) Yeltsin's aide Vyacheslav Volkov countered with the assertion that Zyuganov's rating is higher than... MORE

In separate but convergent statements yesterday, Boris Yeltsin and the OSCE's Chechnya mission chief Tim Guldimann announced that the Russian president is ready to receive Chechen resistance leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiev for talks in Moscow soon. The talks are intended to relaunch the negotiations suspended last... MORE

Russia's command in Chechnya claimed overnight to have captured the Chechen stronghold Bamut, but the claim could not be immediately corroborated. Russian officers on the ground and the Duma's security committee chairman Viktor Ilyukhin said yesterday that 70 Russian soldiers were killed and scores wounded... MORE

The chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC), Nikolai Ryabov, has accused the Communist party of trying to brainwash the public into believing that their candidate has the support of the majority of the population; if they lose next month's presidential elections, Ryabov said, the... MORE

During a one-day meeting in Wisconsin yesterday German chancellor Helmut Kohl endorsed Boris Yeltsin for reelection and U.S. president Bill Clinton expressed strong support for the Russian incumbent. Clinton, who has said he wishes to avoid interfering in Russian internal affairs, gave what was described... MORE

World Bank president James Wolfensohn, who is presently visiting Moscow, announced May 23 that the World Bank will lend Russia over $1 billion to overhaul its coal-mining industry ($530 million) and reform its agricultural sector ($500 million). Wolfensohn said the loan would not be affected... MORE