There was renewed speculation last week that former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who recently stepped down as chairman of the Fatherland-All Russia (OVR) faction in the State Duma, plans to replace Orel Oblast Governor Yegor Stroev as speaker of the Federation Council, the Russian parliament's... MORE

Overshadowed by the terrorist assault on the United States and ensuing events, Russian President Vladimir Putin's official visit to Armenia passed unnoticed internationally. The September 14-15 visit, his first to that country, yielded decisions that cemented the Russian-Armenian military alliance and promise also to bind... MORE

It was apparent in the immediate aftermath of last week's shocking terrorist attacks in the United States that the Bush administration's subsequent moves to respond militarily and diplomatically would offer potential benefits to Moscow and, at the same time, pose a host of potential dangers... MORE

Yesterday Chechen rebel fighters used a portable surface-to-air missile to down a Mi-8 military helicopter after it took off from Djohar (Grozny), the Chechen capital. On board the helicopter, which was headed for the Russian military base at Khankala, just outside the capital, were members... MORE

Yesterday's Chechen rebel attacks occurred against the backdrop of the showdown between the United States and Afghanistan over the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and both the rebels and the federal authorities continued to use the U.S. incidents in their ongoing... MORE

The Kremlin opposes the use of staging areas in Central Asia for U.S.-led NATO retaliatory strikes against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. U.S. officials had sounded out Moscow about that possibility in the wake of the September 11 terrorist assault on America. According to military... MORE

Russian hopes of realizing a major sale of military aircraft to Malaysia suffered at least a temporary setback earlier this month when government sources in Kuala Lumpur indicated that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would not sign the proposed sale agreement during a visit to Moscow... MORE

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) released data on September 11 regarding foreign trade developments on a payments basis for January-July 2001. Divergent trends in aggregate exports and imports in July have further trimmed the country's merchandise trade surplus, largely due to developments in trade... MORE

According to some Russian press reports, a large contingent of Chechen rebel fighters--some 400 in number--have attacked Gudermes, Chechnya's second largest city. Law enforcement and military officials were quoted as saying that that the attackers were "very well organized and well armed," and appeared to... MORE

The reported Chechen rebel attack on the city of Gudermes comes in the wake of the looming confrontation between the United States and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime over the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Russian authorities have been making efforts to... MORE