The legislature in Chelyabinsk Oblast, a heavily industrialized region in the southern Urals, is hoping to sign an agreement with the federal government on nuclear waste disposal. According to a draft prepared by the regional authorities, the Russian government would work jointly with them on... MORE

Estonian president Lennart Meri and prime minister Tiit Vahi over the weekend came to the defense of Estonia's armed forces commander, Lt. General Alexander Einseln, who had been sharply attacked by Defense Minister Andrus Oovel during the week. Meri and Vahi conceded to Estonian media... MORE

Russia plans to finalize tests of the Topol-M modernized strategic missile system and begin series production in 1996, according to Strategic Missile Forces commander-in-chief, Col. General Igor Sergeyev. Russia should have a national missile system, he said, adding that "A joint well-balanced development of silo-based... MORE

Last week, President Boris Yeltsin issued instructions to hold concurrent federal and republican elections in Chechnya on December 17. His own men on the scene are not happy about the prospect. "Elections are impossible to hold, and would only be a farce if held," said... MORE

Yuri Skokov, leader of the Congress of Russian Communities (KRO), told voters in the Stavropol Krai on November 17 that, if his block wins the parliamentary elections in December, it may institute criminal proceedings against certain members of the present leadership. (5) Earlier in the... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin and Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin have both promulgated populist measures in recent days. With elections only four weeks away and the Chernomyrdin-led "Russia is Our Home" block trailing behind the major opposition parties in the opinion polls, the measures seem intended to soften... MORE

Russia's Constitutional Court declined today to rule on the constitutionality of the requirement that parties must score at least five percent of the votes to qualify for parliamentary seats assigned by party list. The regulation was originally designed to persuade Russia's fractious political parties to... MORE

Ukraine's president is supporting Russia's prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his party in next month's Duma elections, because the Russian prime minister "is on the same team" as Boris Yeltsin. Leonid Kuchma said November 18 that he supports blocs "which stand for the irreversibility of... MORE

The crime rate among all branches of the armed forces rose by over 24 percent for the first 10 months of 1995 compared to the same period last year, Assistant Military Prosecutor Stanislav Gaveto told a news conference. The crime rate in the space forces... MORE

Doku Zavgayev, appointed by Moscow as a leader of the breakaway republic of Chechnya, was only slightly hurt when (presumably) rebels tried to blow up his motorcade near the Chechen capital of Grozny on Monday, but six people were injured "with varying degrees of seriousness,"... MORE