BorisYeltsin's decision to veto a press bill that would have providedadditional aid to the media will likely kill some 2,000 localRussian papers, Obshchaya gazeta (no. 34) reported. Mostof these papers--the major source of print news for most Russians--arealready living "from hand to mouth" on the... MORE

Boris Yeltsin has signed into law a Duma-passed measure that willextend special benefits to personnel who suffered from radiationas the result of nuclear tests conducted at the Semipalatinskrange (in Kazakhstan) from 1949 to 1963, Krasnaya zvezdareported August 24. The paper did not say whether the... MORE

Inthe first of a new round of center-periphery clashes which Kommersant-Dailysuggested on August 24 would follow Eduard Rossel's gubernatorialvictory in Sverdlovsk, officials in Yaroslavl have refused torecognize a Moscow court decision on the bankruptcy of a localfirm. Instead, the regional authorities have put special OMONtroops... MORE

The Russian prosecutor general's office complained to the August18-24 Vek that senior military commanders had protectedtheir colleagues accused or even convicted of crimes. Generalswho had been involved in various illegal activities have beenallowed to keep their apartments and their ranks, the prosecutorssaid. Moscow, Yaroslavl Face... MORE

Some 500 specialRussian police commandos raised the headquarters of a Moscow gang,arrested 23, and seized a large supply of weapons, Russian radioreported August 24. The police said that there were several Chechensand a Georgian criminal kingpin among those arrested. The raidcame a day after Moscow... MORE

In addition to corruption in the country's highway police reportedearlier, new interior minister Anatoly Kulikov told SegodnyaAugust 24 that he had uncovered massive corruption in the interiorministry's headquarters staff. He implied that more officialsare likely to be dismissed and charged with crimes. But not everyoneis... MORE

The day after Russian premier Viktor Chernomyrdin saidthat the government would not compensate citizens who lost moneyin fraudulent companies, Moskovsky komsomolets reportedAugust 24 that "some facts suggest that these companies didtheir illegal business with the tacit approval of the CentralBank of Russia." Meanwhile, FIA reported... MORE

After a declinein the increase in unemployment among Russians in May and June,Russian unemployment has increased dramatically in July and August,Russian radio reported August 24. As before, few in Moscow noticedthis: that city has an official unemployment rate of only 0.5percent, but other regions have... MORE

Carryingplacards with slogans such as "Long live the hammer and sickle,"a large group of workers rallied in Moscow August 23 to protestthe "up for grabs privatization" taking place in thecountry, Sovetskaya Rossiya reported August 24. The papersaid that the rally adopted a resolution calling on... MORE

The Russian Duma's international relations committee is preparinglegislation to have Moscow unilaterally withdraw from internationalsanction regimes against Iraq, Libya, and Serbia, Russian radioreported August 24. General: "A Hungry Army is No Army."