. An articlein the July 1 Segodnya said that Russian nuclear powerministry officials believe that Vice President Al Gore had acceptedMoscow's plans to sell nuclear equipment to Iran.(Interfax reportedJuly 1 that US defense secretary William Perry had not raisedany "domestic" issues--code for Chechnya--during hisJune 30... MORE

? Since the three powerministers were dismissed on June 30, the Moscow media have beenfilled with speculation over who will replace them and have warned, like Segodnya on July 1, that the government crisiswon't really be over until the new replacements are named. (Oneindication of... MORE

. Recognizing thathe needs to have a bigger say in the security area if he is tosucceed politically, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin hasquietly created the post of senior military advisor to the government,and has filled it with a former deputy minister of defense, Izvestiya reported... MORE

. On Independent TV4s"Itogi" program July 2, Russian defense minister PavelGrachev accused retired Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed of having incitedsupporters in the 14th Army to resist his release as commanderlast month, and of having destabilized the situation there in "preparation for something bad." Grachev claimed... MORE

. The fallout from the Budennovskhostage taking continues to shake the Russian Federation. InStavropol kray itself, local protests forced Yeltsin to change the public reasons for dismissing the governor. Now Eduard Kuznetsovwill go "at his own request," Ostankino televisionreported July 4. Officials in that region... MORE

. Krasnaya zvezda on June 30 sharply criticizedthe Russian government for cutting the army while increasingsupport for "other kinds of troops"--such as the borderguards and interior ministry forces. Not only do these forcesnumber almost 50 percent of the army's total, and not only arethey better... MORE

. Col. Aleksandr Zdanovich, a Federal Security Serviceofficial, told Vek (no. 25) that one of the reasons that the government could not fight terrorism effectively is becauseYeltsin has reduced the budget of counterterrorist bodies, andhas taken away from the security services the special unitsneeded in... MORE

. The Moscow cityauthorities have approved a new charter which gives the Russiancapital substantially more powers relative to the central government,and for the first time allows voters to select their own mayorand district executives, Izvestiya reported July 4. Hithertothe central government made virtually all the... MORE

. The parliament's upper chamber rejected all threeconstitutional amendments earlier passed by the Duma which wouldhave given the legislature a greater say in controlling the activitiesof the government, appointing key federal officials, and passinga no-confidence resolution, Itar-Tass reported July 4. Many ofthose who voted against... MORE

A groupof Federation Council deputies have accused Council chairmanVladimir Shumeiko and his immediate staff of corruption, Pravda reported July 4. The deputies said that the staff, which nowhas "more privileges" than the communist bosses ofold, had spent over a billion rubles on travel abroad duringlast... MORE