Russiansecurity council secretary Oleg Lobov has asked Boris Yeltsinnot to send him as the president's representative to Chechnya,Moscow's Echo radio reported August 20. Lobov reportedly toldthe president that he was willing to serve wherever Yeltsin wantedhim to but that he could not be effective in... MORE

A survey of Russianexperts presented on Ostankino television August 19 found thatmany of them believe that the democratic parties will lose inthe December 1995 Duma elections but then will be able to returnin the following round. The analysts cited suggested that thiswas a normal pattern... MORE

The Independent Youth Centertold Russian radio August 19 that 90 percent of Russian universitystudents are dissatisfied with the conditions of their lives--particularlythe low quality of medical services available to them, poor foodsupplies, and the absence of adequate funding for university laboratoriesand libraries. And the same... MORE

Accordingto another poll, more Russians (70 percent) distrust the Russianpresident than any other Russian politician, Moscow's Echo radioreported August 19. The only politician who came close to Yeltsinon this rating was Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky: 67percent of all Russians distrusted him, the poll showed. Themost... MORE

In a wide-ranging interviewwith Russian television August 18, Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdindefended his policies but said he did not want to be seen as thesuccessor to Yeltsin or even as a candidate for president. Heacknowledged that by becoming the leader of an electoral bloc,he had... MORE

Despitehis reputation as a cooperative moderate, Russian premier ViktorChernomyrdin actually supports a very tough line in foreign affairs,Segodnya reported August 18. The program of Chernomyrdin's"Russia is Our Home" bloc contains a foreign policysection calling for reorienting Moscow's policy away from an exclusivefocus on the West,... MORE

The latest public opinionpoll in Russia shows that only seven parties now garner at leastfive percent of public support. The Communist Party of Russiahas a 9 percent rating, the Yabloko group 7 percent, VladimirZhirinovsky's Liberal Democrats get 6 percent, and Premier ViktorChernomyrdin's "Russia is Our... MORE

EduardRossel, an advocate of an independent Urals republic who wasdismissed by Boris Yeltsin two years ago, apparently has won reelectionas governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Itar-Tass reported August21. Preliminary returns from a runoff held August 21 show himdefeating Aleksei Strakhov, a supporter of Premier Victor... MORE

Residents in the Russian city ofBryansk, possibly egged on by local communists, tore down a barrieraround a construction site where housing was being built for thenewly wealthy portions of that city's population and have demandedthat they be given a veto over all such future construction,... MORE

Sailorsaboard the Russian nuclear submarine "Vepr'" refusedto put to sea until they were paid, Russian television reportedAugust 19. The station noted that such a "collective refusal"represented a serious challenge to good order in the militaryand that the commanders did not punish the men involved but... MORE