The carnage in Pervomaiskoye may have released a latent groundswell of public opinion against the war in Chechnya. In an indication that anti-war sentiment may indeed be growing, Nizhny Novgorod Governor Boris Nemtsov delivered to President Yeltsin this week an appeal calling for an end... MORE

The Chechen command has released to Dagestani authorities five of the 17 elite OMON policemen from Novosibirsk who surrendered in Pervomaiskoye. The five were wounded during the Russian artillery bombardment of that village. In Chechnya to investigate the Pervomaiskoye affair, Russia's prosecutor general Yuri Skuratov... MORE

An interim agreement between Russia and the European Union came into force today. Both sides believe the agreement is likely to foster increased trade. Under the agreement, the EU gains improved access to Russian markets for such products as cars and alcoholic beverages while an... MORE

Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov has become the most trusted politician in Russia today, according to a poll of the All-Russian Public Opinion Institute. Conducted during the week of January 20-25, the survey was based on a representative sample of the population and has a... MORE

The U.S. government concluded an agreement yesterday to loan $1 billion to the Russian airline Aeroflot for the construction of a fleet of wide-bodied jetliners. The loan, negotiated in part by U.S. vice president Al Gore and Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, will be floated... MORE

Ignoring a last-minute warning by the chairman of Russia's national coal-mining body (Rosugol), Russian miners today began an indefinite strike expected to be observed in all of Russia's 18 coal-producing regions. (1) Strikers are demanding payment of back wages and assurances that the government will... MORE

1. Reuter, January 30; New York Times, January 31 2. Interfax, January 30 3. Izvestiya, Interfax, January 30 4. BBC World Service, January 30 5. Izvestiya, January 30 6. Interfax, January 30 7. Reuter, January 30 8. Reuter, January 30 9. Interfax, January 30 10.... MORE

Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev and top Russian military commanders met with Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev and defense minister Alibek Kasymov in Almaty January 25 and 26. The Kazakh military command and top Russian Defense Ministry officials also attended the meetings, at which Russian and... MORE

Boris Pastukov, Russian deputy foreign minister and mediator in the Georgian-Abkhazian talks, last weekend came close to disavowing recent CIS policy decisions on Abkhazia approved at the January 19 summit of CIS leaders. Following the summit, Pastukhov had to request a meeting with the Communist... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov arrived in Minsk yesterday at the start of two days of scheduled talks in the Belarusian and Ukrainian capitals. In Minsk, Primakov expressed sympathy with Belarusian complaints that integration--particularly economic integration--was proceeding too slowly between Belarus and Russia. Primakov's talks... MORE