Funding cuts threaten the future of the Russian space program, Pravda reported April 25. Appropriations have fallen 80 to 90 percent in the last five years. Unless that trend is reversed and new funds found, the paper said, all space programs are likely to halt... MORE

Following the unexplained ammunition dump explosion at Talovo in the Russian Far East last month, Moscow has become increasingly concerned about security in these facilities. Krasnaya zvezda reported April 22 that there are not enough guards at many locations. Countrywide, the Russian military paper said,... MORE

Noting that the number of unauthorized entries into the Russian Federal Nuclear Center has "nearly doubled" over the past year, Rossiiskaya gazeta reported April 22 that a special unit to fight nuclear terrorism has been established in the former closed city of Chelyabinsk-65. The paper... MORE

Following months of Russian government efforts to portray the fighting in Chechnya as a conflict between Christianity and Islam, Russia's military newspaper April 25 cited with approval a Chechen Muslim leader who dismissed that idea. Mufti Magomed Bo-Shir, Krasnaya zvezda reported, said that "this is... MORE

The current issue of Britain's "New Scientist" magazine says that Red Mercury--a mysterious compound supposedly developed by Soviet scientists to increase the explosive capability of small nuclear weapons--actually exists. The compound, now revealed to consist of pure mercury and mercury antimony oxide, was reported as... MORE

Just as in Soviet times, Moscow authorities have announced that 7,000 prisoners will be released from jail and 13,000 will have their terms reduced, Rossiiskaya gazeta reported April 27. The action follows a Duma resolution adopted April 25. The Rich Get Richer.

The Russian Labor Ministry told Pravda rossii April 27 that the richest 20 percent of the population receives 45 percent of the country's gross income, while the poorest 20 percent receives only 5.7 percent. Such an income disparity, while not dramatically out of line with... MORE

The extreme right-wing newspaper Zavtra (no. 17) said that the Russian Army must recapture Estonia and Latvia to prevent NATO from achieving a "strategic bridgehead" there. These countries also threaten Russia because they "persecute" ethnic Russians and serve as a base for criminal activities directed... MORE

Russian Federal Security Service deputy director N. Kovalev said that illegal shipments of guns regularly cross from Estonia into the Russian Federation, Saratovskiye vesti reported March 24. Kovalev said that more than 1,000 pistols had been confiscated there in recent months. He also noted that... MORE

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met with Pope John Paul II to discuss the return of Roman Catholic Church property confiscated by the Soviet authorities, the possibility of a papal visit to Ukraine, and interfaith relations in Eastern Europe, DPA reported May 2. The property issue... MORE