The scandal which broke out yesterday had been in the offing since March 19, when a giant AN-124 military transport plane (the type known as "Ruslan") made an authorized refueling stop at Baku's Bina airport. Owned by the Russian air carrier Polyot, and arriving from... MORE

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon's March 22-23 visit to Tbilisi reflected well-established cordial relations, traceable to Eduard Shevardnadze's tenure of office during the late Soviet era. As leader of the Georgian Communist Party, Shevardnadze opened the door for Jewish emigration... MORE

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon completed yesterday a tour of official visits which took them to Moscow (see Russian Federation section above), Kyiv and Tbilisi (see South Caucasus section below). When welcoming the Israeli leaders in Moscow, Russian Prime Minister... MORE

The communist-controlled Crimean Supreme Soviet has appointed Admiral Mikhail Khronopulo (retired) as the official representative in Moscow of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Crimea's mission in Moscow was officially established on March 18. As an autonomous republic within Ukraine, the Crimea has a certain latitude... MORE

Russian Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin reported to President Boris Yeltsin on March 23 on the status of the investigation into the March 19 terrorist bombing in Vladikavkaz(see the Monitor, March 22). Yeltsin said that he is taking the investigation under his personal control. The atmosphere... MORE

Yesterday Viktor Ilyukhin, the radical communist who heads the State Duma's security committee, claimed that he has evidence that part of the US$4.8 billion credit extended to Russia by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last summer was "distributed, with the participation of the president, among... MORE

Pavel Borodin, head of the Kremlin's "housekeeping affairs" department, which has been at the center of a corruption scandal, was busy yesterday speaking to the media. His interviews followed reports that his offices were being searched by officials from the Prosecutor General's Office. According to... MORE

The latest developments in the Balkans are sure to further stoke the already considerable intensity of anti-NATO and anti-U.S. rhetoric in Moscow. As evidenced by Primakov's decision yesterday to abort his talks in Washington, Russian government officials can also be expected to excoriate NATO actions... MORE

s decision to launch air strikes against the Serb military caused some immediate collateral political damage yesterday--and it occurred far from the troubled Balkans region. Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, en route to Washington for long-anticipated talks with top U.S. and IMF officials, ordered his... MORE

Government officials in Bishkek yesterday hinted at the reason behind Kyrgyz Prime Minister Zhumabek Ibraimov's precipitate admission to the Moscow Central Clinic ten days ago (see the Monitor, March 15). According to the officials, Ibraimov is being treated in a cancer ward by a medical... MORE