Moscow'sdecision to downgrade the 14th Russian army could loose weapons into thepopulation, just as Soviet loss of control had done before the Karabakh warstarted, Obshchaya gazeta (no. 20) reported. Saying that the situation inthe Transdniester region of Moldova was "painfully reminiscent" of theCaucasus in 1987-88,... MORE

Acknowledging thatOSCE-sponsored talks in Moscow on the war in Karabakh were unlikely toproduce a breakthrough, Russian special envoy and conference co-chairmanVladimir Kazimirov outlined the steps needed to bring peace in that region,Novosti reported May 17. Kazimirov said that direct links must beestablished between Baku and... MORE

Armenian President LevonTer-Petrosyan's decision to replace senior officials in his security servicescomes amid rising public suspicions that security officers were responsiblefor the death last week of inmate Artavazt Manoukian, a Dashnak party memberaccused of terrorism. The republic's Fact news agency on May 17 reportedthat virtually... MORE

An Uzbek-US joint venture, Zararfshan-Newmont,will begin extracting gold at Muruntau May 24, Segodnya reported May 18. As aresult of that, and of Tashkent's support for prospectors, ever more Uzbeksare now looking for gold, the paper said. Tajikistan Will Earn Cash For Storing Radioactive Waste.

Western governmentsand businesses will pay Dushanbe $500 million over the next 30 years forstoring radioactive waste from Western countries, Moskovskaya pravda reportedMay 17. The first shipment arrived in Saint Petersburg on May 16, and Russianenvironmentalists are concerned about the shipment of radioactive materialsacross the Russian... MORE

According to an article in this week'sArgumenty i fakty, all who visit Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square receive upto 700 roentgens of "black, invisible energy" which leaves them spirituallycrippled. "Burying [Lenin, the usual suggestion] is not enough," the papersaid. "Christian rules for fighting satanism suggest... MORE

Moscow television news led its May 17 broadcast with astatement by a Federal Security Service spokesman that a recently discoveredcorpse "could not be" that of Fred Cuny, the American aid specialist who hasbeen missing in Chechnya since April 9. Aleksandr Mikhailov did not say howthe... MORE

Elite Russianparatroopers began their assault into the Chechen-held mountains May 17 butfailed to take Serzhen-Yurt, Interfax reported May 17. Russian televisionreported that Chechen shells had set ablaze the oil tank farm at Khayan-Kortnear Grozny that had supplied much of the fuel for Russian forces. Despitetheir... MORE

A Russian Duma resolution calling on Kiev to allow"the free expression of the popular will" of Crimea brought cheers inSevastopol May 17, Moscow radio reported. Ethnic Russians in Crimea said theyfeared an outbreak of violence between Crimea and the Ukrainian government,Nezavisimaya gazeta reported May 17.... MORE

A variety of political combinations are being assembled tooppose Prime Minister Chernomyrdin's "Russia is Our Home" electoralcoalition. Some of them seem to have no ideological foundation except adesire to defeat the current "party of power." One of the most unusual beingdiscussed would link the trade... MORE