Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested a Russian research scientist in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk and charged him with manufacturing and smuggling abroad at least one kilo (2.2 pounds) of nuclear material which could be used for military purposes. The man's identity was... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has reiterated that the presidential elections will go ahead as planned on June 16 and rebuked his security chief, Aleksandr Korzhakov, for calling for their cancellation. At the same time, Yeltsin warned that a victory for Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov would... MORE

Tajikistan's State Security Ministry announced yesterday that three of its officers were killed in an ambush in the Tavildara region May 4. On the same day, opposition leader Saidabdullo Nuri made public a letter he addressed to UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, pointing to recent... MORE

The Belarus parliament voted May 4 to ratify the treaty signed April 2 by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Aleksandr Lukashenko to create a Russia-Belarus Community of Sovereign Republics. The vote was 166 in favor, with just a few voting against or abstaining; but a large... MORE

At the meeting of prime ministers of all the countries bordering on the Baltic Sea, held on Sweden's Visby island, Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin distanced himself from recent threats in Moscow that Russia might send troops into Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to forestall their... MORE

During a brief visit to Helsinki, Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his Finnish counterpart announced the signing of a series of accords aimed at boosting trade between the two countries and at encouraging Finnish investment in Russia. Among the approved documents were an agreements... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has issued a decree mandating the creation of a special peacekeeping contingent within the armed forces, the presidential press service announced May 3. The decree orders the defense ministry to designate within one month a list of 17 motorized infantry and... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov told reporters May 3 that Russia was prepared to hold talks with Chechen rebels, including on the subject of Chechnya's status, but that independence for the republic was out of the question. He also deflected European criticism of Russia's brutal... MORE

Russian Communist party leader and presidential front-runner Gennady Zyuganov yesterday rejected the proposal, voiced over the weekend by one of President Boris Yeltsin's closest aides, that the June 16 presidential elections should be postponed. Zyuganov told Russian Television that such a postponement would violate the... MORE

A leading member of the Yabloko party, Duma deputy Vyacheslav Igrunov, has laid out the conditions under which party leader Grigory Yavlinsky would consider relinquishing his presidential bid in favor of Boris Yeltsin. In an interview published yesterday, Igrunov said that Yeltsin must first sponsor... MORE