On May 7, the Russian president began the official celebrations by releasing a statement to Russian media on the war. Yeltsin noted that "our people together survived the toughest trials and saved world civilization from fascism." He also reached out to the former Soviet republics:... MORE

The increasingly harsh rhetoric between Moscow and Washington and differences between them on NATO, Iran, and other issues reflect the domestic constraints both leaders face as they plan for reelection, Segodnya said May 5. Both presidents face increasingly assertive legislatures, and both must respond to... MORE

Russian foreign minister Andrey Kozyrev's April 19 suggestion that Moscow has the right to use military force to defend its co-ethnics in neighboring countries is playing into the hands of those in the West who want to isolate and weaken Moscow, Kommersant-daily argued May 6.... MORE

German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel said on German radio May 7 that Moscow must end the "terrible military outrages in Chechnya." On May 8, defense minister Volker Ruehe said that Russia must not only end the war in Chechnya but must exert additional pressure on... MORE

Military commentator Pavel Felgengauer said in the May 5 Segodnya that officials at the Russian nuclear power ministry believe Washington is trying to block the Russian sale to Iran as part of broader "imperial ambitions." One official at that ministry even suggested that Russia would... MORE

Claiming that UN sanctions on Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya are costing the Russian Federation $20 billion, the Russian parliament on May 4 called for them to be lifted at least in Yugoslavia. In reporting this development, Rossiiskaya gazeta denounced the legislature for not going further... MORE

The KGB's successor organizations are quietly expanding their holdings in Relkom, Russia's largest e-mail system, Kommersant-daily reported May 6. The firm, whose major stockholder is the Kurchatov nuclear research institute, now has on its board officers from the former Eighth Chief Directorate of the KGB.... MORE

Nuclear reactors removed from two decommissioned Russian submarines will soon be providing electric power to two cities in Siberia, Moskovskaya pravda said May 5. The paper indicated that these small reactors could be especially useful in providing power to Russia's numerous small and mid-sized cities.... MORE

Three-quarters of all scientists working in the aerospace and nuclear fields would like to work abroad, although most indicate that they would eventually return to Russia, Kuranty reported May 5. Such a brain drain--which also affects other scientific fields could leave Russia a "retarded country,"... MORE

Despite predictions that the two new electoral blocs headed by Russian prime minister Chernomyrdin and Duma speaker Rybkin would win 67 percent of the votes in this year's parliamentary elections, a new poll shows them doing far worse. A countrywide sampling of opinion showed that... MORE