Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor's Office announced yesterday that it had begun to investigate the way arms and explosives are guarded by the military. More than 150 inspectors were involved in the effort. The inspections were sparked by the recent explosion of a Navy mine depot... MORE

The ultranationalist Ukrainian National Assembly (UNA), which currently holds three parliamentary seats, launched its electoral campaign at a congress in Kyiv on November 3-4. In a fiery keynote speech, the movement's founding father, Dmytro Korchinsky, proposed offering the electorate a program "aimed at achieving Ukrainian... MORE

Russian first deputy minister for foreign economic relations Georgy Gabuniya on November 12 criticized the governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for adopting independent negotiating positions in talks with the World Trade Organization (WTO). (Itar-Tass, November 12) The criticism from Moscow is further evidence of the... MORE

Russian defense minister Igor Sergeev on November 14 discounted any possibility that Russia would move rapidly to sign a convention banning anti-personnel land mines when it is opened for signature next month. President Boris Yeltsin in October had surprised many when he announced to the... MORE

Russia's domestic counter-intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), announced on November 14 that it had arrested an Iranian citizen whom it claimed to have caught "red-handed" trying to procure plans for Russian missile technology. According to a report by NTV, the arrest occurred in... MORE

Police in St. Petersburg have arrested two left-wing activists. The pair has reportedly confessed both to the August assassination of the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, Mikhail Manevich, and to causing an explosion earlier this month at a naval ammunition depot in Primorsky Krai. The... MORE

Aleksandr Minkin, the investigative journalist who broke the story of the $450,000 royalty advance that led President Yeltsin to sack three top officials over the weekend, says he will reveal a new scandal in this week's issue of his paper that will put his previous... MORE

Alikram Gummatov, leader of the would-be Talysh-Mugan republic, died on November 14 in an Azerbaijani prison. He had been sentenced to death in 1996 on charges of high treason, endangering the country's territorial integrity, and creating unlawful armed units. Gummatov had led an abortive effort... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has acted in recent days to defuse the latest scandal over financial corruption in his government. On November 14, he sacked the first deputy head of his presidential administration, Aleksandr Kazakov, and the following day, he dismissed two more senior officials --... MORE

The Duma called on the Russian government on November 14 to take urgent measures to check the spread of AIDS. Since monitoring began in Russia ten years ago, more than 6,000 people have been diagnosed with HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS. More... MORE