Only one Crimean Tatar was elected to the Crimean parliament, the Supreme Soviet, in Sunday's election. To add insult to injury, that deputy was elected not as a representative of the Tatars -- the indigenous population of the peninsula -- but as a Communist party... MORE

Canadian authorities yesterday allowed an airliner owned by Russia's Aeroflot airline to return to Moscow. The plane had been grounded at Montreal's Dorval Airport one day earlier by Canadian authorities. That action, which provoked a protest from Russia's Foreign Ministry, was the result of a... MORE

Latvia's Economics Minister Atis Sausnits disclosed yesterday that Russia has recently introduced "informal economic sanctions" by detaining Latvian exports at the border for week-long periods. The resulting cost increases render Latvian goods uncompetitive on the Russian market. Moreover, perishable agricultural goods -- which form a... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry on March 31 denied once again allegations that Russia is continuing to develop biological weapons. The latest charges were made by Ken Alibek in an opinion piece that appeared in The New York Times on March 27. Alibek charged, among other things,... MORE

Among the potential arms deals discussed during Tsochatzopoulos' stay in Moscow was the purchase by Athens of Russian S-300 antiaircraft missile complexes. The Greek government announced earlier this year that it was inviting both Russia and the United States to take part in a competitive... MORE

Greece and Russia appeared set yesterday to boost bilateral military-technical cooperation, as visiting Greek Defense Minister Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos completed the second of three days of high-level talks in the Russian capital. The Greek minister's talks yesterday with his Russian counterpart, acting Defense Minister Igor Sergeev,... MORE

A Russian army officer died yesterday while attempting to defuse a bomb in the center of Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan (see Monitor, April 1). The bomb had been planted on the route that Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov takes to work. (NTV, RTR, ORT, April 1)... MORE

Local election authorities in Nizhny Novgorod have annulled last weekend's election in which Andrei Klimentyev, a nightclub owner with two criminal convictions, was elected mayor of Russia's third largest city. The regional electoral commission claimed to be acting in response to allegations of vote-buying, but... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has defused his latest clash with the Communist-dominated State Duma by offering to meet with the Speakers of the two houses of the Russian parliament. On the agenda will be parliament's demand for consultations over Yeltsin's nomination of thirty-five-year-old Sergei Kirienko as... MORE

Returning from a week-long U.S. visit, Georgian Defense Minister Vardiko Nadibaidze announced yesterday that the Pentagon has agreed to hand over fourteen helicopters to Georgia, deliver two warships within two months, train Georgian naval crews, assist in the organization of Georgia's first-ever naval maneuvers this... MORE