Russia delivered to Kazakhstan yesterday the first four Sukhoy-27 tactical combat airplanes of the sixteen which are due. Kazakhstan is also to receive some S-300 surface-to-air missile installations, the first of which is to be deployed near the new capital of Astana. The airplanes and... MORE

The Azerbaijani presidential adviser on foreign policy, Vafa Guluzade, and other government officials are increasing their calls for Western protection of security in Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus-Caspian region. Briefing international news agencies yesterday, Guluzade observed that "Russia seeks to destroy Azerbaijan's Western orientation and... MORE

On January 24, the predominantly Bulgarian population of the Taraclia district in southern Moldova challenged the central government by voting in a referendum to preserve that district. The result was 92 percent in favor and 6 percent opposed, with an 88 percent turnout which cut... MORE

Closed proceedings against Captain 2nd Rank Grigory Pasko resumed in Vladivostok on January 21, and are continuing this week. Pasko is a military journalist who was arrested in November of 1997 on treason charges. Once an editor of the Pacific Fleet's "Boyevaya vakhta" newspaper, Pasko... MORE

The Russian military prosecutor's office announced yesterday that military authorities have arrested nearly 1,000 soldiers guilty of having deserted their military units. The announcement follows a major four-day military operation aimed at locating and apprehending deserters. According to Chief Military Prosecutor Yury Demin, the majority... MORE

While the Mikhalkov candidacy story got a lot of attention from the Russian press, another story has also raised eyebrows--one involving a letter and a packet of documents which Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov sent to State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev on January 22. In the... MORE

A new potential presidential contender--film director Nikita Mikhalkov--is the talk of the Moscow rumor mill. Mikhalkov, who directed and starred in the award-winning and internationally acclaimed "Burnt by the Sun," is the subject of an article in the January 24th edition of London's "Sunday Times."... MORE

The Caspian International Petroleum Company (CIPCO) announced on January 22 that it is closing down its project to develop the "Karabakh" offshore oilfield in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea. Three test wells, the last of which was drilled last autumn, found oil and gas... MORE

On January 22 some 3,000 residents of Minsk--carrying signs reading "No to a Russian occupation" and "No to the Eurasian empire"--marched in the city center in support of Belarusan independence. The march was staged as an immediate response to the Minsk session of the Russia-Belarus... MORE

On January 22, the sixth congress of Ukraine's Hromada party nominated former Premier Pavlo Lazarenko--who is currently under investigation in Switzerland for charges of money-laundering--as its presidential candidate in the upcoming elections (see the Monitor, December 4, 7, 14, 23, 1998). The vote was 258-1,... MORE