In contrastto the population as a whole, the so-called "opinion leaders"are generally supportive of the government, Russian televisionreported August 21. Fifty-two percent of them say they are generallysatisfied with the performance of the government, even thoughthey acknowledged that the Russian people were not and would... MORE

Officials at the Central Bank of Russia told Russian radioAugust 22 that the bank would soon decide on the exchange ratefor the ruble that the government would support after October1. On that date, the government had said earlier, the currentsoft peg of the ruble against... MORE

Federal SecurityService officials and Moscow regional police have arrested a manwho was holding 11 containers of radioactive cobalt, Podmoskovskieizvestiya reported August 19. The paper said that this wasthe material that was used to poison businessman Ivan Kivelidi.Earlier, officials had reported that the poison used was... MORE

On August22, Rossiiskaya gazeta published the law on electoral districtsand thus opened the Duma election campaign "officially,"Russian television reported. In fact, the campaign has been goingon for some weeks and continues to expand in intensity, with candidatesmaking speeches throughout the country and the more than... MORE

Althoughthe Russian foreign ministry continues to say that Russia willnot take any unilateral steps, a meeting in Moscow this week ofthe Russian-Yugoslav ministerial commission on trade and economiccooperation suggests that Russia is laying the groundwork to doprecisely that. Russian media have prominently reported that thiscommission... MORE

Krasnaya zvezda said August 23 that the failure ofthe government to pay salaries to soldiers and officers was "shakingthe whole army" and could trigger lack of discipline andother problems. The same day, Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikovtold Russian radio that his men in Chechnya had not... MORE

Officialson both sides of the conflict said they would like talks to resumeeven as they suggested that the violence in Argun could lead toa resumption in the war. Chechen military leader Aslan Maskhadovblamed Moscow for what had taken place and said if it were repeated,"we... MORE

Kazakhstanrefused either to back down on its position concerning the statusof the Caspian Sea or to sign documents granting Russia virtualcontrol of the Kazakh city of Leninsk near the Baikonur cosmodrome,Russian media reported August 20-21. But the talks between Russiandeputy premier Aleksei Bolshakov and Kazakh... MORE

In a move likelyto drive even more Tajiks into the hands of the opposition, theTajik government removed all controls on prices for bread, Ostankinotelevision reported August 20. To try to soften the blow, theTajik authorities said they would provide subsidies for the pooreststrata of the... MORE

Activists from VladimirZhirinovsky's absurdly misnamed Liberal Democratic Party of Russiaare using vodka with the picture of their leader on it to bribelocal journalists to give more coverage to his party, Pravdareported August 18. The Moscow paper said that the LDPR hadoffered cash as well, but... MORE