Russian negotiator Arkady Volsky said that the two sides had agreed on the most difficult aspect of the talks--on military questions--even though the military agreement would not come into force until the political and economic accords were reached, Russian radio reported June 23. The Russian... MORE

In remarks that may point to which officials he will decide to remove, President Boris Yeltsin sharply criticized the Federal Security Service, the interior ministry and Russian military intelligence for failing to prevent the Chechen raid on Budennovsk, Moscow television reported June 22. Yeltsin stopped... MORE

On June 21, the Russian Duma approved three constitutional amendments that would allow the parliament to pass on the appointment of all of the so-called power ministers, allow no confidence votes on individual members of the government, and give the parliament the right to investigate... MORE

The Council of Europe has presented its prestigious human rights prize to Russian human rights activist Sergei Kovalev, German radio reported June 22. Kovalyev, a sharp critic of Moscow's handling of Chechnya, shared the award with Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who disappeared in the... MORE

The Russian president has decided to allow elections to be held in Nizhny Novgorod, Segodnya reported June 22. The region's governor, Boris Nemtsov, got the word immediately after his much-commented-upon television exchange with Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the paper said. Nemtsov hopes to hold the... MORE

A group of opposition leaders including Nikolai Ryzhkov and Stanislav Govorukhin called for the establishment of a special, non-government committee to monitor the upcoming Russian parliamentary elections, Russian radio reported June 22. Lebed Bows Out with a Bang.

In what was probably the last of his many interviews while in uniform, now-retired Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed told Obshchaya gazeta (no. 25) that he would "love to return to the military but never to Grachev's military." In other remarks, he compared Yeltsin's security aide... MORE

On June 21, the Russian parliament passed on the third reading the final version of a bill that would halt Yeltsin's plans to reorganize, reduce, and withdraw the 14th Russian army from Moldova, Itar-Tass reported. The bill, which must now clear the Federation Council and... MORE

On June 21, Boris Yeltsin hosted a meeting of the leaders of the country's financial-industrial groups (FIGs) to underscore his alliance with these groups, which were organized by his decree in December 1993, Kommersant-Daily reported June 22. The FIGs control much of the activity in... MORE

In an open letter to the Russian authorities, foreign journalists accredited in Moscow demanded that the authorities find and punish the Russian servicemen responsible for the death of Natalya Alyankina, a Russia journalist who was killed near Budennovsk by Russian border police, Izvestiya reported June... MORE