President Boris Yeltsin made several important cabinet appointments on May 8. All the main posts have now been filled, leaving only a few relatively minor vacancies. (RTR, May 8) Among the last important appointments was that of forty-five year-old Georgy Gabuniya as acting minister of... MORE

Gabuniya's appointment rattled "Russia is Our Home" (ROH), the normally pro-government movement headed by former premier Viktor Chernomyrdin. ROH's parliamentary leader Aleksandr Shokhin, who badly wanted the trade and industry portfolio for himself, was so furious when he did not get it that he announced... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin used Russia's May 9 Victory Day celebration to hail the courage of the country's soldiers and citizenry during World War II. But the Russian leader also made mention of the army's current problems and of his faith in the ability of today's... MORE

In the central Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Victory Day celebrations broke up in chaos when the two candidates for the post of governor -- incumbent Valery Zubov and challenger Aleksandr Lebed -- both tried hijack the parade. The run-off of Krasnoyarsk's gubernatorial election is set... MORE

Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov is in Baku to celebrate the birthday of Azerbaijani President Haidar Aliev. Maskhadov announced that a street in the Chechen capital of Djohar will be named after Aliev. He also presented his host with a pistol. "I went through the whole... MORE

" Boris Berezovsky began on may 7 in Moldova a blitz tour to take him to all CIS member countries within a few days. The new executive secretary of the CIS announced in Chisinau that on this tour he intends to "take stock of the... MORE

Communist deputies to Crimea's Supreme Soviet have sealed up the office of the speaker of in the parliament building in Simferopol. Their aim is to prevent the speaker of the outgoing parliament, Anatoly Grytsenko, from getting into his old office and using the official telephone... MORE

President Eduard Shevardnadze has appointed Major-General Johnny Pirtskhalaishvili to the post of chief of staff of the armed forces. Pirtskhalaishvili, 51, is a graduate of the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow and commanded a Soviet motor-rifle division in Ukraine before returning to Georgia. (Itar-Tass, May... MORE

The Spiritual Directorate of Muslims in Kyrgyzstan has issued a statement accusing Russian-language newspapers of "stirring up unrest, misrepresenting facts, and labeling Muslims as Wahhabites and fanatics... These [publications] aim to foster hostility toward Islam and practicing Muslims," according to the statement. The Spiritual Directorate... MORE

Armenian President Robert Kocharian yesterday rescinded the December 1994 decree of his predecessor, Levon Ter-Petrosian, which had suspended the activity of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)--in Armenian, Dashnaksutiun. Kocharian's measure also invalidates the Armenian Justice Ministry's January 1995 measures against the ARF. Kocharian, leader of... MORE