If the Southern district is a poor macro-region experiencing something of a rebound, the Far East could be a relatively wealthy district that is headed for serious difficulties. The Goskomstat data indicate that the Far East is Russia's second wealthiest district. The US$121 monthly wage... MORE

Yevgeny Nazdratenko, who was forced to resign as governor of the Far Eastern region of Primorsky Krai earlier this month, has been named head of the State Fisheries Committee. The appointment of the controversial governor, whom many observers blamed for Primorye's severe energy crisis this... MORE

Despite stepped up security measures, Chechen rebels managed to carry out attacks marking the February 23 anniversary of Josef Stalin's 1944 deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples. During the 1994-1996 Russian military campaign in Chechnya, the rebels managed to carry out revenge attacks on... MORE

Anna Politkovskaya, the Novaya Gazeta correspondent detained in Chechnya last week, returned to Moscow on February 24. Immediately upon her return, she gave an interview to Radio Liberty, in which she again charged that the soldiers who detained her had threatened to shoot her. At... MORE

On February 25, Moldova held its third multiparty parliamentary elections. Yet the multiparty system itself is in a state of collapse in Moldova. This situation has paralyzed the outgoing parliament, led to repeated constitutional changes, thwarted the election of a head of state and ultimately... MORE

As suggested in the Monitor yesterday, this week's opening of a NATO information office in Moscow--formally the highlight of Secretary General George Robertson's visit to Russia--was more important in symbolic terms than in operational or political ones. This says much about the many problems and... MORE

Andrei Illarionov, President Vladimir Putin's outspoken economic adviser, has said that the Russian economy is now in recession. The only way to ensure a return to economic growth, he continued, is to have a 5-percent federal budget surplus. In an interview with the Polit.ru website,... MORE

Anna Politkovskaya, the correspondent with the biweekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta who was detained by Russian troops in Chechnya yesterday, was taken by helicopter to the military base at Khankala, just outside the Chechen capital (see the Monitor, February 22). The military command at Khankala has... MORE

On February 21, Gennady Troshev, commander of the North Caucasus military district, held a meeting with the heads of the power structures in Chechnya to discuss plans for reducing the size of the federal troop contingent in the republic. Among those who took part in... MORE

NATO Secretary General George Robertson wound up an intensive two-day visit to Moscow this week which included talks with a bevy of top Russian political and military leaders, including President Vladimir Putin. In purely symbolic terms, the visit highlight was the opening of a NATO... MORE