A revised schedule for Chechen disarmament, and parallel Russian troop withdrawals, goes into effect October 5, by decision of the joint monitoring commission. The October 3 announcement from the military commanders and commission co-chairmen, Lt. General Anatoly Romanov and Maj. General Aslan Maskhadov, did not... MORE

The Central Election Commission has confirmed the results of the election of Volgograd mayor Yuri Chekhov, who won by 60 percent of the vote. Chekhov, who ran as an independent candidate, campaigned against the regional division of Viktor Chernomyrdin's bloc "Russia is Our Home." The... MORE

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said it has issued an arrest warrant for Igor Georgadze, the former Georgian security chief accused of masterminding the recent assassination attempt on Georgian head of state Eduard Shevardnadze. Georgia has asked Russia to extradite Georgadze, who, according to Georgian... MORE

The director of the Institute of Economic Analysis, Andrei Ilarionov, says that Russia's foreign debt may reach $130 billion by the end of this year. This would put Russia at the top of the world's debtor list, ahead of Brazil which owes $122 billion. Ilarionov... MORE

The Federation Council, which held its first fall session October 3, has approved a referendum law. The law would allow the public to vote on questions of changing the government, the presidential administration, or the legislature. (3) The referendum law may be of great political... MORE

Several communist and nationalist organizations organized a demonstration and a religious memorial service to mark the bloody events in Moscow during the armed confrontation between Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Supreme Soviet in October 1993. Demonstrations were carried out in several Moscow locations, including the... MORE

The Minister for Foreign Economic Relations, Oleg Davydov, said that Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan must create a free economic zone for the purpose of integrating themselves into the European Union as a single economic bloc. Davydov stressed that the zone must be created without... MORE

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Wednesday he had started a cabinet reshuffle by appointing new justice and ecology ministers. He made it clear that other changes would soon follow. NATO Defense Ministers Meet.

The 16 NATO defense ministers will meet in Williamsburg, VA on Thursday to try to agree on details for a multinational force to police an eventual peace settlement in Bosnia. Lebed Pleased by Powell.

Russian Lt. General (ret.) and hardliner presidential hopeful Aleksandr Lebed noted that US General Colin Powell is reported to have said: "Russia will forever remain a great European and Eurasian power." Lebed's comment: "I have nothing to add...Some folks in the West discount the Russian... MORE