Boris Yeltsin vetoed legislationthat would have increased support for the poorest members of society,Russian radio reported August 3. The president's office said hehad done so because the bill contained provisions conflictingwith the Constitution; in fact, he took this step in order totry to contain the... MORE

Despite repeated promises, the Russian government has notprovided the funding necessary for the construction of 17,000apartments for Baltic Fleet officers displaced by the independenceof the Baltic states, Krasnaya zvezda reported August 2.Indeed, cutbacks in funding have been so severe that housing projectslaunched in Kaliningrad have... MORE

Having learnedthat Yeltsin has issued a decree calling for an improvement inconditions in Russian jails, some 15 inmates in a preliminarydetention center in Moscow have staged a hunger strike to forcelocal jailers to comply, Moskovsky komsomolets reportedAugust 3. Among the new benefits prisoners are supposed... MORE

The Moscow city government released a statement August3 saying that the recent imposition of new customs duties on importedfood was "a deliberate action designed to create a crisisin the capital" as the election campaign begins, Russianmedia reported. The city authorities did not specify just whowanted... MORE

A commentary in Obshchaya gazeta (no.31) suggested that Yeltsin's reorganization of the security systemis designed to create a "parallel government" and thusto deprive Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin of effective power overthe country. An article in the August 2 issue of Pravda wenteven further; it suggested that... MORE

The Russian interior ministry and the Federal MigrationService have established special squads within the police to escortillegal aliens out of the country, Moskovsky komsomolets reportedAugust 3. According to the decree setting up these squads, theyare intended "not only to protect the aliens during deportationbut also... MORE

A new initiativegroup has been created to generate support for the re-electionof Boris Yeltsin and thus to encourage him to run again in 1996,its organizers told Itar-Tass August 4. The group's spokesmensaid that they hoped this show of support would buoy Yeltsin inhis difficult tasks... MORE

RetiredLt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed would defeat any of his major rivalsin head to head competition if presidential elections were heldtoday, according to poll results published in Nezavisimayagazeta (no. 31). He would defeat Yeltsin 38 percent to 8 percent,nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky 42 percent to 11 percent,... MORE

Radicalcommunists have charged that their nominal leader Gennady Zyuganovhas sold out and converted their party into a "party of power" just like those headed by Prime Minister ViktorChernomyrdin and Duma speaker Ivan Rybkin, Russian radio reportedAugust 2. Nonetheless, the communists reportedly are doing extremelywell in... MORE

The end of a Russian government-imposed moratoriumon changes in internal administrative borders has prompted anupsurge in nationalism among deported groups seeking to recovertheir lands, and among Russians who believe that non-Russianscontrol more territory than they should, Russian radio reportedAugust 2. While the station suggested that... MORE