408,800 residentsof Kazakhstan left in 1994, nearly twice as many as in 1993, and600,000 are expected to leave this year, Kazakh political scientistNurbulat Masonov told Panorama Latvii on June 9. Nearlyhalf of these people are ethnic Russians; their flight largelyreflects the fact that Kazakh authorities... MORE

In yet anotherindication of the collapse of any state authority in Tajikistan,members of a Tajik battalion are reported to have seized the headof one regional executive committee and are holding him as a hostage,Interfax said June 30. A commission of the Tajik government hasbeen dispatched... MORE

Leaders of Uzbekistan's"Birlik" opposition party held a conference in the Russiancapital because it is too dangerous for them to meet in the capitalof their own country, Russian radio reported July 1. While thecongress could not take place in Uzbekistan, numerous party membersfrom that country were... MORE

Two weeks ago, the Russian Dumarefused to outlaw prostitution. Literaturnaya gazeta onJune 21 provided an explanation why. According to the literaryweekly, the deputies "apparently decided that there oughtto be at least one part of the economy [in Russia] where workersget their pay on a regular... MORE

Six senior Russian ministersand officials, under attack for their role in Chechnya and Budennovsk,offered to resign at the Security Council meeting June 29, Russianradio reported June 30. Many Duma deputies have said that Yeltsinmust dismiss these people if the parliament is to support theChernomyrdin government.... MORE

In his closing speechto the Security Council, Yeltsin said that the country's anti-terrorismeffort must be reformed, and placed under a single anti-terroristcenter to be controlled by him, Russian radio reported June 29.He said that he was concerned about growing tensions between theCossacks and the Chechens,... MORE

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A report prepared by Council of Europeexperts who had visited Chechnya earlier this year said that Russiantroops had engaged in widespread beatings, looting, and destructionof property and, in isolated cases, massacres, tortures, and rape.The report, widely covered in European papers, noted that "criminalacts can be... MORE

Russian militarycommanders are "tired of being presented as 'the party ofwar," Pavel Felgengauer, a leading commentator on Russianmilitary questions, told Segodnya June 29. The militaryis especially unhappy that civilian politicians try to presentthemselves as men of peace when it is precisely the politicianswho give the... MORE

Claiming a membership of 2.5million and a potential membership of 10 million, Russia's Unionof Cossacks met in Moscow this week to consider how to betteradvance Cossack and Russian interests, Russian television reportedJune 29. The atamans, as Cossack leaders are known, said thatthey could provide better... MORE