According the official Chechen version of events, laid out by Turpal-ali-Atgireev, the goal of the kidnappings' organizers was to portray Chechnya to the rest of the world as a nest of bandits and terrorists. According to Atgireev, the goal of the whole series of recent... MORE

On Tuesday (December 8), the severed heads of four Westerners who had been kidnapped in Chechnya were discovered in the Achkoi-Martan region of Chechnya, near the border with Ingushetia. The four victims--Peter Kennedy, Darren Hickey and Rudolf Petshci of Great Britain, and Stanley Shaw of... MORE

Despite assurances from Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov that no government personnel reshuffle is impending, a report yesterday said that Defense Minister Igor Sergeev may not make it to the end of this year in his post. The report suggested that the Kremlin has become increasingly... MORE

Expectations that the Russian Duma was prepared to move toward ratification of the START II treaty were frustrated yet again yesterday as lawmakers postponed until next week discussions on the document which were scheduled for yesterday. The chairman of the Duma's International Affairs Committee, Vladimir... MORE

The United States has long criticized Moscow for its cooperation with Iran on nuclear energy and in the development of ballistic missiles. Now Washington is reportedly reacting with concern to evidence that impoverished Russian scientists may be aiding Iran in the development of biological weapons.... MORE

New "versions" of President Boris Yeltsin's decision to shake up his administration have been making the rounds. According to Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Politika Foundation, Yeltsin may have fired his chief of staff, Valentin Yumashev, because the presidential administration had been moving toward backing... MORE

The authorities in Vladivostok, in Russia's Far East, declared a state of emergency Tuesday, saying half of the city's buildings were without heat. Schools and daycare centers were closed down, and officials said that hospitals would be evacuated if the situation did not improve. Conditions... MORE

Geneva's prosecutor, Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, arrived yesterday in Kyiv with a team of investigators to collect evidence in the case of former Ukrainian Premier Pavlo Lazarenko (STV, ICTV, 1st Ukrainian TV channel, December 7). Lazarenko, leader of the Hromada Party and possible presidential candidate, was arrested... MORE

Statements made yesterday by Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba confirm the collapse of Russian-mediated efforts to organize a meeting of the two in Abkhazia's capital Sukhumi. Shevardnadze and Ardzinba were to have signed two major documents: one on a mutual renunciation... MORE

President Valdas Adamkus has received a group of State Security Department officers to thank them for a successful counterintelligence operation which thwarted the transmittal of state secrets to a foreign power. The Lithuanians had apparently monitored the foreign agent or agents for several months before... MORE