ORT televisiongeneral director Sergei Blagovolin has said that his broadcasts"are not going to be neutral" in the upcoming electioncampaign, Moskovskiye novosti (no. 54) reported. The papersuggested that Blagovolin and his people would support the positionof Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's "Russia is Our Home"bloc and said... MORE

Kalmykpresident Kirsan Ilyuzhimov will face the electorate on October15 now that the local parliament--appointed by him--has passedthe necessary legislation, Segodnya reported August 16.Ilyuzhimov, who earlier had bought off the elected deputies withcash, said that "in 1993, the people of Kalmykia voted forme as a millionaire... MORE

Boris Yeltsin's office has introduced new security standardsfor employees working within the Kremlin that will force themto refrain from foreign travel for five years, report about anyrelatives living in foreign countries, and consent to eavesdroppingof their telephonic conversations, Moskovskiye novosti (no.54) reported. Indeed, the weekly... MORE

The financeministry told Segodnya August 16 that the 1996 budget,already approved by the cabinet but not yet submitted to the Duma,had been revised again to allow Moscow to spend an extra 3.3 trillionrubles to support agriculture and increase spending on the FederalSecurity Service and units... MORE

Although 262 political groups already have registered withthe justice ministry, all of those that wish to participate inthe December parliamentary election must now take the next stepand register with the Central Election Commission, Russian radioreported August 17. To do that, a group has to collect... MORE

Militaryobserver Pavel Felgengauer wrote in the August 16 Segodnyathat the July 30 Grozny accords would not provide any realpeace, or even a decent interval for the withdrawal of Russianforces. Instead, he wrote, the situation there will depend onthe continuing use of force on both sides.... MORE

Several hundredRussian businessmen held a demonstration in front of Federal SecurityService headquarters in Moscow, Russian radio reported August16. The protest was organized by the Roundtable of Russian Businesswhose leader, Ivan Kivelidi, was killed earlier this month. Accordingto former Soviet finance minister and Kivelidi associate, VladimirShcherbakov,... MORE

Sourcesat the Federal Security Service told Moscow's Echo Radio August15 that Fred Cuny, the American aid worker who has been missingin Chechnya since April 9, was linked to the American "specialservices" and fulfilled "the role they assigned him"on the territory of Chechnya. This is the... MORE

"We are certain that the Chechenproblem could have been resolved without a war," one Russiancounterintelligence officer told Kommersant-Daily August15. "We have repeatedly submitted our proposals. There hasbeen no reaction. Now, having made lots of mistakes, some of whichare attributable to the elementary lack of understanding... MORE

A Russian foreignministry spokesman said that Moscow believed Washington's latestideas on a resolution of the Yugoslav conflict could be the basisfor a broader agreement, but warned that the US proposal containedunacceptable military provisions, Russian radio reported August16. Meanwhile, senior Russian diplomats told Russian media August16... MORE