The Communist faction in the State Duma and their nationalist and agrarian allies launched their campaign in the Russian parliament this morning to force President Boris Yeltsin to withdraw his nomination of 35-year-old Sergei Kirienko as prime minister. The Communists say Kirienko is inexperienced. The... MORE

The Kremlin's support for Serbian authorities in Belgrade -- and its parallel defiance of Washington's call for stronger measures against those same authorities -- has been enormously popular in Russia. Last night's vote came despite domestic pressure to veto the resolution. Indeed, the deputy speaker... MORE

Russia joined thirteen other Security Council members last night as the UN body voted 14-0 to impose an arms embargo on Yugoslavia. China abstained from the vote. The UN measure is intended to promote a peaceful settlement of the recent crisis in Serbia's troubled Kosovo... MORE

The Communist party (CP) of Kyrgyzstan and the organization Russian Community are launching on April 1 a signature collection campaign in favor of the country's accession to the Russia-Belarus Union. The CP and Russian Community jointly form the Movement for the Unity and Brotherhood of... MORE

Belarus will increase the volume and range of military and dual-purpose equipment deliveries to China, according to Vladimir Yegorov, former Chairman of the KGB of Belarus and currently head of the national security commission of the president-appointed parliament. Returning yesterday from a visit to China,... MORE

On national radio yesterday, President Eduard Shevardnadze yesterday offered "apologies" to Ajaria's leaders and people for "ill-conceived declarations" made recently in the Georgian parliament about Ajaria. "Not a single man in the Georgian leadership entertains the idea of abolishing Ajaria's autonomy," Shevardnadze observed. By the... MORE

Lithuanian Parliament Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis yesterday observed that Moscow has begun a "cold war against the Baltic states, and tries to involve leaders of influential Western countries in it." Pointing to Russia's recent propaganda offensive against Latvia, Landsbergis also cited the Kremlin's claims last week... MORE

Contrary to a widespread first impression, yesterday's parliamentary elections in Ukraine brought the Communist party only a limited success. According to projections, the Communists obtained some 30 percent of the vote on party slates, where 225 parliamentary seats are at stake. The Communists must have... MORE

The director of the VCIOM polling center, Yuri Levada, discussed the findings of recent polls regarding levels of anti-Semitism in Russian society in a recent interview. (Trud, 18 March) According to Levada's colleague, Lev Gudkov, the polls show that about 7-10 percent of Russians have... MORE

Six years after its emergence as an sovereign state, many of the borders of the Russian Federation are not only unpoliced but also unmarked. In the Soviet era borders between union republics were typically the responsibility of local officials rather than a national agency. (Izvestiya,... MORE