Although Russia's overall crime rate fell 9 percent from 1996 to 1997, drug use and drug-related crimes continued to rise rapidly, Russian deputy premier and interior minister Anatoly Kulikov said on January 6. Kulikov, who was speaking at a meeting of the government's commission for... MORE

According to Russia's State Statistics Committee, GDP grew in the first eleven months of 1997 by 0.3 percent over the same period in 1996. The Russian government's proudest achievement in 1997 was its continued success in curbing inflation. Consumer-price inflation fell to 11.3 percent last... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin is expected to remain on vacation until January 19, Russian agencies reported yesterday. Presidential spokesmen stressed that the president is well and working on documents; they said he had spoken by telephone with aides and leading officials but is not expected... MORE

The Russian government made haste on January 6 to dissociate itself from calls by two government ministers for emergency measures to counter the threat of terrorism from Chechnya. Government spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov said this week's call by Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov for preemptive strikes against... MORE

Interviewed in yesterday's issue of Komsomolskaya pravda, Zbigniew Brzezinski described Russia as a "third-world type regional power, though with a substantial nuclear potential," still considering itself a superpower, but in fact "too weak and too backward" to qualify for such status or for a partnership... MORE

Presidents Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, Askar Akaev of Kyrgyzstan, Imomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan, Saparmurad Niazov of Turkmenistan, and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan conferred on January 5-6 in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat. Although cautiously billed as "informal" and "without a pre-set agenda," the summit focused on strategic... MORE

The Kremlin announced yesterday that the extraordinary meeting of the presidents of CIS countries, scheduled to be held in Moscow on January 23, is being postponed. Without stating reasons, the announcement claimed that Russian president Boris Yeltsin, in his capacity as chairman of the CIS... MORE

Three years of often difficult negotiations over the regulation of fishing by Japanese boats in the waters off the disputed Kuril Islands apparently came to a successful close in Moscow on December 30. In remarks to reporters on January 6, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady... MORE

In connection with his decision to take a two-week vacation, Russian president Boris Yeltsin yesterday decided to postpone a visit to India that had been scheduled for later this month. The decision, announced by Kremlin officials, seems sure to raise some questions in New Delhi.... MORE

In other remarks to the press, Russian deputy premier and interior minister Kulikov said yesterday that the most dangerous sectors of Dagestan's border with Chechnya will be put under additional guard. He said it has already been decided to increase the number of policemen in... MORE