The chief of the Federal SecurityService's Department for Economic Intelligence, Lt. General Vladimir Tsekhanov, says that practically every second a senior official in Russia is involved in corrupt practices of one kind or another, often laundering their illegal income abroad. According to Tsekhanov, only in... MORE

First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais told a news briefing yesterday that the government would pour 500 billion rubles into the coal industry over and above the amount budgeted for this year in order to defuse tension in one of the country's principal energy sectors.... MORE

The commanders of the armies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania yesterday came out for a defense union to support each other if attacked. Estonian Defense Forces chief Alexander Einseln told a news conference, "We formally came to a decision that we are ready to support... MORE

Thousands of spent nuclear fuel assemblies and tons of other radioactive waste from the Russian northern fleet pose radiation risks far exceeding those of Chernobyl, researchers said yesterday. Thomas Nilsen, co-author of a report on Russian nuclear dumps, singled out the Andreev Bay storage site... MORE

Several dozen Yeltsin admirers met today and launched an official campaign for Boris Yeltsin to be re-elected president in 1996. However the Russian leader, who is recovering from a heart attack, has not yet decided to run. (1) Moscow Plans to Send 2,500 Peacekeepers to... MORE

Defense Minister Pavel Grachev announced in Brussels Tuesday that Moscow plans to send about 2,500 peacekeepers to Bosnia. One thousand five hundred will be involved in separating of the conflicting sides in the first stage of the peacekeeping operation; and a further 1,000 will participate... MORE

According to the Moscow correspondent of the Turkish daily Milliyet, the Russian government offered to support Azerbaijan's efforts to regain Karabakh if Baku grants Russia military basing rights. The article characterizes Russia's attitude on this matter as a bargain: "bases in exchange for Karabakh." Azeri... MORE

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin yesterday told a Moscow briefing that Iranian deputy foreign minister Mahmud Vayezi has just held consultations with the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Caspian issues. Russia and Iran agree that only littoral countries are entitled to determine the Caspian's... MORE

The overdue fifth round of inter-Tajik negotiations is now scheduled to open in Ashgabat tomorrow, hosted by Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov and mediated by Russian and U.N. envoys. The event may yet be derailed by continuing fighting, particularly along the Afghan border. The commander in... MORE

Today's parliamentary by-elections in Belarus are jeopardized by the Constitutional Court's November 23 decision to maintain a 50 percent minimum turnout requirement for district results to be considered valid. At stake are 141 seats out of the Supreme Soviet's 260. The by-elections are necessary because... MORE