Russian politicians and media are speaking very nearly in unison in criticizing allegations in the Western press reports concerning the investigation into Russian moneylaundering through the Bank of New York. Among the top politicians, for example, both Viktor Chernomyrdin and Yegor Gaidar--two former prime ministers... MORE

On August 26, the Vilnius regional court sentenced six leaders of the former Communist Party of Lithuania-CPSU Platform [CPL-CPSU] to prison terms ranging from three to twelve years for their role in the January 1991 Soviet putsch in Lithuania. In that putsch, the diehard communists... MORE

From August 23-27, air defense units of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan--the countries making up the CIS joint air defense system--conducted their annual joint exercise, "Military Commonwealth," at the Ashuluk testing range in Russia's Astrakhan region. Supervised by Russia's air force commander, Colonel-General Anatoly... MORE

Although Russian space officials have dismissed the criticism, there have been some concerns expressed abroad that control over Mir could be lost in the months ahead and that the ship could come crashing back to earth in a dangerous fashion (Reuters, August 27). To add... MORE

The penultimate chapter in the storied history of Russia's Mir space station appears to have been written over the weekend, as what is likely to be the last of the station's manned crews departed Mir and returned to earth. The August 28 touchdown in Kazakhstan,... MORE

While leaders of the new Union of Right-Wing Forces went on the defensive, their main rivals, Fatherland-All Russia, the center-left coalition led by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Prime Minster Yevgeny Primakov and the main rival of the new Union of Right-Wing Forces, released... MORE

Leaders of the Union of Right-Wing Forces, the center-right coalition whose formation was announced just last week, met in Moscow yesterday and signed official founding documents. Among the signatories were former Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko, who heads the New Force movement, former acting Prime Minister... MORE

The insurgents yesterday entered a further district--Chon-Alai--of Kyrgyzstan's Osh Region, in which they control part of the Batken district since August 22 (see the Monitor, August 24-26). In Chon-Alai the guerrillas captured without combat a twenty-strong Kyrgyz military unit, raising to nearly 100 the number... MORE

Ukraine's national-democrats--"nationalist" and pro-market politicians, opposing both the Reds and the government--have missed probably their last chance to unite for the presidential election this fall. The inter-party forum, grandly titled "Truth and Prosperity to the People, a Worthy President to Ukraine!," which convened on August... MORE

Voters in Sverdlovsk Oblast in the Urals will go to the polls on August 29 to elect a governor. Of the seven candidates, incumbent Governor Eduard Rossel and Arkady Chernetsky, mayor of the regional capital Yekaterinburg, are running neck and neck. Few doubt that they... MORE