Under attackfrom his subordinates for incompetence and even corruption, andmuch criticized for his lack of any sense of humor about the "Puppets"television program, acting prosecutor general Aleksei Ilyushenkodismissed the arguments of his opponents in an interview in theAugust 1 Izvestiya. With regard to the "Puppets"case,... MORE

Apresidential aide told Interfax August 2 that Yeltsin had no intentionof firing activist Sergei Kovalev as his human rights commissioner,but the aide did not deny that the organization Kovalev was incharge of had been disbanded. Yeltsin Signs Law Creating Civil Service.

Boris Yeltsinhas signed a law creating a Russian civil service, NTV reportedAugust 2. The new law creates a series of grades within the service,a set of tests for promotion among them, and financial accountabilityfor government employees. It also limits the political activitiesof bureaucrats: they cannot... MORE

As Duma membersscramble to collect signatures to force a special session on theelection law, Duma speaker Ivan Rybkin said that such a sessionwas extremely unlikely, Itar-Tass reported August 1. As a result,the upcoming elections will take place under the existing rules,something that Duma defense committee... MORE

Accordingto the terms of a new Yeltsin decree, representatives of the Russianeconomics ministry must be present whenever an accord is signedbetween a Russian firm and a foreign company, Rossiiskiye vestireported August 1. Yeltsin Aide Denies President Wants to Fire Kovalev.

Andrannik Migranyan, a member of Yeltsin's PresidentialCouncil and often the source of trial balloons for the Russiangovernment, told Moskovskaya pravda August 2 that Russiashould abandon its illusions that the OSCE can become an all-Europeansecurity arrangement, and that it should avoid any active involvementin NATO's Partnership... MORE

Russian primeminister Viktor Chernomyrdin has established a special commissionto examine the performance of the foreign ministry, and to seekways to improve its efficiency, Interfax reported August 2. Whileaides to foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev said that the ministerhimself was behind the idea, the new commission, which... MORE

Dmitry Rogozin, one of the founders of the Union of RussianCommunities, said that he and the bloc's other leaders, Yury Skokovand Aleksandr Lebed, would insist that Moscow use economic pressureon former Soviet republics to prevent them from "violating"the rights of ethnic Russians who live there,... MORE

Moscowwill establish 18 more consulates over the next three years, primarilyin the former Soviet republics, the director of the Russian foreignministry's policy planning department told Kommersant-DailyJuly 29. Given the ministry's budget problems, this decisionsuggests that Moscow now plans to register as many of the ethnicRussians... MORE

Fourrepublics that have special accords on power-sharing with Moscow--Tatarstan,Bashkortostan, Kabardino-Balkariya, and North Ossetia--are amongthe strongest backers of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin'selectoral bloc "Russia is Our Home," Vek (no.29) reported. The paper suggested that their support both reflectedthe deal their elites have worked out with Moscow,... MORE