In an open letter dated August 12, the parliamentary groupRussia's Democratic Choice called attention to restrictions onits supporters' freedom to campaign in a number of Russian Federationregions, particularly in the North Caucasus. The letter was addressedto President Boris Yeltsin, Internal Affairs Minister AnatolyKulikov, Acting Prosecutor... MORE

. Untappedoffshore oil and gas deposits in a 7,000 square kilometer areaaround Serpents' Island in the Black Sea could go a long way towardmeeting Ukraine's energy needs, Mineral Resources State CommitteeVice-chairman Bohdan Bialyuk and the Rada's defense and nationalsecurity commission chairman Volodymyr Mukhin told the... MORE

The Ukrainian Navy's deputy commander, Rear Admiral MykolaKostriv, told Interfax-Ukraine August 11 that Russian-controlledships, and other assets of the Black Sea Fleet earmarked for transferto Ukraine, are rapidly deteriorating. Adding to recent Ukrainiancomplaints, Kostriv noted that some ships of Ukraine's futureshare of the fleet "have... MORE

The "Alfa"anti-terrorist special unit, which was one of the best KGB units,is being transferred to the KGB's successor, the Federal SecurityService (FSB), Radio Russia reported August 11. "Alfa"had until recently been subordinated to General Mikhail Barsukov'sMain Protection Administration. With Barsukov's appointment asFSB head, "Alfa" is... MORE

Astrakhan and Rasht,port cities of Russia and Iran, respectively, on opposite shoresof the Caspian Sea, have inaugurated regular direct weekly flightsbetween them, IRNA reported August 13. On August 2, the Astrakhanregion's administration had publicly asked for authority to establishdirect economic relations with Iran without having... MORE

In a procedure whichlasted only a few minutes on August 11, the Duma overrode witha comfortable majority the Federation Council's veto on the lawon defining the boundaries of electoral districts. The vote makesit possible for candidates to begin full-swing campaigning inthe districts. Until now, they... MORE

TheRussian authorities have expelled US Capt. Jason Lynch, withoutthe right to re-enter Russia, "for activities incompatiblewith his status." Lynch was a participant in a joint Russian-Americanproject studying the ecological situation in Siberia's Krasnoyarskarea. Earlier this month, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB)briefly detained Lynch near the... MORE

With the military agreement and politicaltalks in Grozny apparently at a dead end, the Duma in Moscow againfocused its attention on Chechnya. Over the weekend, VladimirZhirinovsky renewed his proposal to split Chechnya into a lowlandregion under Russian Federation control and a highland regionto be treated... MORE

While there were stillno news about the fate of American aid specialist Fred Cuny whohas been missing the region since April 9, another American,Andrew Shumak, was reported missing by Russian and Western newsagencies over the weekend. A free-lance photo correspondent whohas covered the work of... MORE

Twelve Russian soldierswere wounded in attacks by Chechen forces August 12 and 13, theRussian command reported. It also announced that it had broughtits troops in Chechnya to "full combat readiness". Accordingto Radio Mayak August 12, Moscow has sent to Chechnya fresh troopsof the Internal Affairs... MORE