Ajar Supreme Soviet Chairman Aslan Abashidze announced yesterday the appointment of Leonard Devderiani as Minister for Special Assignments of Ajaria. Devderiani, who has until now lived in Moscow, was Georgia's trade representative to Russia during the rule of the late president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. He has... MORE

Ukrainian and U.S. National Guard troops yesterday began a joint military exercise, the first-ever involving U.S. troops in combat practice on Ukrainian territory. The exercise, to unfold in three stages, focuses on joint commando operations in emergency situations and on dealing with "extremist armed groups."... MORE

Teams headed by Prime Ministers Valery Pustovoytenko and Ion Ciubuc agreed yesterday in Kyiv on rectifications of the post-Soviet border between Ukraine and Moldova. The Moldovan side cedes to Ukraine several short highway and railway stretches which ended up in Moldova in 1991, but which... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday described it as "crucially important not to increase pressure on Iraq and to contribute to the course of its normal cooperation with the [UN] Special Commission in order to fulfill the resolutions of the UN Security Council in full." Foreign Ministry... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry on July 29 and August 3 chastised Latvia for her plan to demarcate and equip her side of the Latvian-Russian border. Moscow bases its case on the fact that the Russian-Latvian border agreement--which legalizes the border and delimits the respective territories--has not... MORE

Miners in Sakhalin this morning agreed to relax their blockade of the island's power station to allow enough fuel to be delivered to keep the station in operation. The concession wards off the threat of a total power blackout (see story below), but cuts to... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin will resume his interrupted holiday today or tomorrow in the Valdai lakeland region in Novgorod Oblast, northwest of Moscow. (Itar-Tass, August 3) His departure from the capital is expected to put a brief stop to the rumor mill of speculation over... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has reportedly signed a long-awaited document that identifies the main threats to Russia's security and sets out the development of the country's various military and security forces through the year 2005. Russian Security Council Secretary Andrei Kokoshin, who was clearly instrumental... MORE

The 650,000 inhabitants of Russia's Sakhalin Island are facing the threat of a complete power blackout as coal miners continue for the tenth day to block trains carrying coal to the island's power station. The miners are demanding payment of up to eight months' wage... MORE

Russia's new law on mortgages came into effect last week. (Izvestia, July 29; Rossiiskaya gazeta, July 30) Its aim is to widen the access of ordinary, middle-income families to the credit necessary to purchase their own homes. The Moscow city government has responded by setting... MORE