Struggling to explain the November 27-28 Russian air strikes on Georgia, President Vladimir Putin's Defense Ministry and the Kremlin's public relations operation are giving each other the lie. On one side, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov not only denies that Russian aviation bombed Georgian territory, but... MORE

Various Russian media and politicians have been commenting on the behind-the-scenes power struggle said to be ongoing in the Kremlin. This battle is reportedly taking place between members of the Yeltsin-era Kremlin inner circle, otherwise known as the Family, and newer officials and power-brokers who... MORE

At dawn on November 28, Russian aviation bombed Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, which lies well inside that country's borders. The action continued a pattern set by the Russian bombing raids in October in Georgia's Kodori Gorge. The latest raid in Pankisi, however, was of unprecedented scope... MORE

On November 19, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma replaced Vadym Dolhanov with Ihor Storozhuk in the post of director of the National TV Company (NTC). The move was dictated by the need to improve the quality of broadcasts by the UT-1 channel, which NTC manages, with... MORE

Ukrainian Premier Anatoly Kinakh has announced that the Ukrainian Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UPIE), which he heads, will join the propresidential bloc For United Ukraine (FUU). This will be the fifth and, most probably, the last party to join the bloc set up by... MORE

The mutual courtship dance of Russia and NATO, which began in earnest during the recent Russian-U.S. summit meeting in Washington and Texas, picked up additional speed last week when NATO Secretary General George Robertson paid a three-day visit to Moscow. Robertson's visit--which included meetings with... MORE

The Moscow Arbitration Court rendered a verdict on Monday (November 26) that effectively dooms TV-6, the television channel 75-percent owned by tycoon and former Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky (NTV.ru, November 26). The court reaffirmed its decision of September 27, when it found in favor of... MORE

Opening a forum yesterday (November 27) in Strasbourg devoted to the human rights situation in Chechnya, Alvaro Gil-Robles, the Council of Europe's high commissioner for human rights, said that participants in the meeting, who included officials from Russia's Prosecutor General's Office and Supreme Court, would... MORE

Through their recent actions, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh are shouldering personal responsibility for violating Moldova's sovereignty, international law and the norms of international bodies such as the World Trade Organization that Ukraine aspires to join. On Kuchma's and Kinakh's authority,... MORE

When Russia and China begot the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) five months ago, there was no telling whether the child would die in its infancy, live handicapped by its birth defects, develop normally as a functional member of international society, or grow into a two-headed... MORE