A report published on Kavkaz.org, the radical pro-Chechen website based in Qatar, claims that the rebels have received confidential information from Moscow that President Vladimir Putin recently presided over a secret Kremlin meeting of key government officials on "the Chechen question." The session was reportedly... MORE

Contrary to expectations, President Leonid Kuchma has appointed a military serviceman, rather than a civilian, as Ukraine's new defense minister. On November 12, he issued a decree appointing First Deputy Defense Minister General Volodymyr Shkidchenko, 53, to this position. Shkidchenko had served as acting head... MORE

The bulk of Ukraine's most popular nationalist force, the Rukh, is going to the March 2002 parliamentary elections under the banner of former Premier Viktor Yushchenko. A newly formed group, however, seems intent on trying to ride on the Rukh's name-recognition coat-tails. Likely result: confusion... MORE

In a move that surprised many political observers, four major political organizations--Unity, Fatherland, the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko--signed an agreement on November 5 to cooperate in the Moscow City Duma elections, scheduled for December 16 (Russian agencies, November 5-6). The groups agreed... MORE

The election scandal in the Republic of Sakha, the diamond-mining region popularly known as Yakutia, remained unresolved last week, as opponents of the republic's incumbent president, Mikhail Nikolaev, continued to try and thwart his bid to run for a third term. His opponents in Moscow,... MORE

The Russian government has decided to tackle the problem of high debt service payments scheduled for 2003 by repaying substantial amounts early rather than seeking restructuring to postpone some of the payments to the Paris Club. This development added more good news to an already... MORE

This year's flagging export performance and the continuing surge in imports on the back of the sustained recovery in domestic demand is finally putting a sizeable dent in Russia's enormous trade surplus. The trade surplus declined by 8.9 percent in January-August 2001, compared with a... MORE

On November 10, the Georgian parliament narrowly elected Nino Burjanadze, 37, as its chairwoman--the second most powerful post in the land. Its holder becomes interim head of state in the event of a presidential vacancy, pending a pre-term presidential election. That possibility is inevitably being... MORE

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has moved toward a political arrangement with his bitter political opponent, the Ajar Autonomous Republic's leader Aslan Abashidze. On November 3, amid the political crisis in Tbilisi, Shevardnadze traveled to Ajaria's administrative center Batumi and offered Abashidze two posts in Tbilisi:... MORE

Speaking today to an annual gathering of the Russian armed forces senior officers, President Vladimir Putin praised the Russian military for its handling of the military operation in Chechnya, saying that recent events, including actions carried out by international terrorists, had shown the military operation... MORE