Yeltsin set June 22 as a national day of mourning for the 121 people killed and 200 injured during the hostage crisis in Budennovsk, Itar-Tass said June 22. Meanwhile, Moscow stepped up security in the Russian capital. According to Interfax on June 21, the authorities... MORE

The Russian parliament has approved a bill that sets the rules for conducting national referenda on important issues, Moscow television reported June 21. Although the Russian constitution says that the state can conduct referenda as needed, Moscow had lacked a law to implement its provisions.... MORE

Yeltsin's decision to accept Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed's retirement papers has increased anti-presidential sentiment among officers of the defense ministry, general staff and the Moscow military district, Nezavsimiaya gazeta reported Junee 21. Last week's appeal in support of Lebed, addressed by the officers' assembly of... MORE

The Miners of Russia movement said June 21 that it had no confidence in the government of President Boris Yeltsin Interfax reported. Russian television reported the same day that officials in coal areas fear a social explosion as mines continue to be closed. The local... MORE

In a June 20 Moscow radio interview, defense minister Pavel Grachev said he "personally regreted" the retirement of Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed and would have been pleased to continue to serve with him. His remarks were in sharp contrast to his earlier gloating when he... MORE

In an article in Moskovskie novosti (no. 43), Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev said that Europe must avoid reestablishing the divisions of the past, that NATO expansion was possible only if cooperation between the Western alliance and Russia were deepened, and that a strengthened Organization... MORE

Twelve detachments of Terek cossacks--a total of 5000 men--are now guarding roads in the troubled North Caucasus, Moscow's Echo radio reported June 20. Many local and regional governments have simply incorporated these new forces into the local constabularies. Journalists Protest Moscow's Approach in Budennovsk.

The Fund for the Defense of Glasnost, a journalists' group, denounced both Moscow and local officials for their handling of the press during the hostage crisis, Russian radio reported June 21. The group noted that some 30 journalists had come under Russian fire, with two... MORE

Krasnoyarsk governor Valeri Zubov hurried to Moscow to try to block efforts by economic leaders in Norilsk to have their city shifted out of Krasnoyarsk kray and put either directly under Moscow or under the Taymyr regional authorities, Moscow radio reported June 20. The station... MORE

Under pressure from the World Bank and IMF, Moscow will formally end the state monopoly on oil exports June 25, Kommersant-Daily reported June 21. This step is especially difficult for the Russian government which derives enormous revenues from oil exports: it has earned some $3... MORE