Boris Berezovsky has announced that he will hand over the 75-percent stake he owns in TV-6 to the television station's team of journalists, headed by the station's general director, Yevgeny Kiselev. Berezovsky--who broke with President Vladimir Putin last year and went into self-imposed exile after... MORE

With international media attention continuing to focus on events surrounding the U.S. antiterror war in Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin slipped quietly into Germany last week for several hours of informal talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The visit underscored the extent to which personal... MORE

The Russian antiguerrilla operation in the Chechen city of Argun has apparently turned into a full-scale battle between federal forces and separatist fighters. Russian media initially reported that fifty rebels had attacked a police unit in the city on December 12 and implied the federal... MORE

Russian officials have not confirmed reports yesterday that the Chechen rebel field commander Khattab has been wounded. The state news agency Itar-Tass reported yesterday that Khattab had been wounded in the leg and shoulder during a battle in the settlement of Nikatakhoi in Chechnya's Vedeno... MORE

President Vladimir Putin this week apparently put to rest the rumors that he was considering amending the Russian constitution to lengthen the presidential term. Speaking at a December 12 Kremlin reception marking Constitution Day, Putin declared that the term would not be extended for him,... MORE

On December 11, the four Armenian members of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) announced their withdrawal from that body. The Armenian members accused the Turkish members of breaching reciprocal trust in connection with a proposed third-party inquiry into the massacres and deportations of 1915-1918, which... MORE

Chechen rebels attacked local police officers yesterday in the city of Argun, sparking a battle in the northeast section of the city. The attacking force was made up of approximately fifty rebel fighters, and local army units came to the aid of the besieged police... MORE

At the end of November, Vneshekonombank, the agent for Russia's sovereign foreign obligations, repaid the principal on the Federation's first Eurobond issue. The bonds were issued in 1996 with a five-year maturity and a yield of 9.25 percent. Vneshekonombank paid out US$1 billion in principal... MORE

The Russian government has sought to reassure the public and foreign investors on several fronts. Despite the dire warnings of OPEC that a failure to coordinate the recommended production cutbacks could bring world market oil prices to as low as US$10 per barrel, the Russian... MORE

Mikhail Nikolaev, president of Russia's Far Eastern Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), has dropped his bid to win reelection. In a televised statement aired yesterday on local television, Nikolaev said he was dropping out of the presidential race in favor of another candidate--Vyacheslav Shtyrov, head of... MORE