Saying that he was "swimming in sulfuric acid" andacknowledging that he was being "insubordinate," Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebedtold a May 12 press conference that he would not resign, Basarpress reported.Lebed said his departure, demanded by Russian defense minister Grachev, wouldspark a new war. He scored... MORE

On November 30, 1994, President Yeltsinissued a still secret decree that ordered the Russian army into Chechnyaeleven days later, Izvestiya reported May 12. Information about thedecree--whose existence had been disputed--surfaced in the course of a Russianparliamentary appeal to the Constitutional Court concerning the legality ofYeltsin's... MORE

Col. Gen. Eduard Vorobyev, thefirst deputy commander of Russian Ground Forces, who refused to lead theRussian operations in Chechnya, has been replaced by Col. Gen. AnatoliyGolomev, Kommersant-daily reported May 12. Golomev had been deputy commanderof the Ground Forces for combat training. The shift had been... MORE

The Russian-backed Association ofNational Democratic and Patriotic Forces in Chechnya has denounced theRussian Ministry for Nationalities and Regional Affairs for its insensitiveapproach, Segodnya reported May 12. The paper said that the ministry'sactions were "swelling the ranks of Dudayev's followers." From Marx To Christ.

Soviet-era political officers are "putting on cassocksand grabbing crucifixes" to serve as chaplains in the Russian army, thenewspaper Vladivostok reported March 25. It estimated that the Army wouldneed some 5,000 priests even though only one in 20 servicemen are is abeliever. Although the paper said... MORE

The InternationalUnion for the Defense of Intellectual Property estimates that American firmslost $805 million from the sale of pirated copies of computer programs andvideo and audio cassettes in Russia, Izvestiya reported May 4. The paper saidthat 85% of the audio cassettes sold in Moscow are... MORE

Russian communications minister VladimirBulgak said that many Russian television and radio programs are bankrupt andwill have to be auctioned off to the private sector, Russian televisionreported May 10. The minister said that these programs on the state-ownedchannels had not paid his ministry for the broadcasting... MORE

The old Odessa curse has a new meaning. Inthe first quarter of 1995, Russians received more income for entrepreneurialactivity (43.5%) than they did from wages (40.3%), Izvestiya reported May 11.The paper also noted that Russians were buying more foreign currency_15.2% oftheir incomes as against 12.4%... MORE

Although he had bannedregional elections in 1994, Yeltsin has issued a decree calling forgubernatorial elections this year in Sverdlovsk, Segodnya reported May 12. Inaddition to his home town ties, Yeltsin is perhaps concerned by the continuedinfluence there of ousted governor Edouard Rossel, a man who... MORE

Having reached themandatory retirement age of 70, Academician Georgy Arbatov stepped down asdirector of the Institute of the USA and Canada, Ogonek (no. 18) reported.Russia's leading Americanist said in a swan song interview that "Russia now,in my opinion, does not have a seriously developed and... MORE