Anatoly Sobchak collapsed and was hospitalized on October 3 after being served notice by prosecutors in St. Petersburg that he is to be called as a material witness in a corruption investigation. Sobchak, who lost his post as mayor of Russia's second city in an... MORE

In a display of tough talking during the runup to an October 9-10 meeting of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Russian president Boris Yeltsin on October 3 urged Europeans to resist interference from the U.S. and to unite in a common effort to solve... MORE

Addressing a Soviet-style teachers' congress in Minsk on October 4, Belarusan president Alyaksandr Lukashenka charged that Russian "financial magnates" and Kremlin officials had used the detention of Russian ORT TV journalists to "manipulate" Boris Yeltsin into canceling Lukashenka's scheduled visit to Russia. (See Monitor, October... MORE

The commander of the Makhachkala detachment of the Caucasus Special Border Guards District, Sergei Bondarev, has warned that the situation on Russia's border with Azerbaijan is becoming increasingly tense and that there is a possibility of "armed provocations" from fighters belonging to the Lezgin national... MORE

The Georgian parliament yesterday approved the country's military doctrine. Submitted by the parliament's Defense and Security Committee, the document had been in the works for the past two years, with inputs from the relevant civilian and military bodies. It is largely a political document, short... MORE

With the signing of a peace treaty in June, 1997, hopes are reviving that the more than 5 million people of Tajikistan will be able to rebuild their economy. GDP is up 4 percent in the first eight months of the year, totaling $2.5 billion.... MORE

Addressing the country on radio today, Russian president Boris Yeltsin warned the Duma against "another spiral of confrontation with the executive power" over the Land and Tax Codes and the 1998 budget. Yeltsin accused the Duma's majority of blocking urgently needed reforms, rejecting his offers... MORE

Only a week has passed since President Boris Yeltsin signed Russia's controversial new law on religion, which critics say gives too many privileges to the Russian Orthodox Church. Hare Krishna devotees were the first to report increased police harassment. Now, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has... MORE

Consumer price inflation fell by 0.3 percent in Russia in September. This is the sharpest drop in inflation since Russia's economic reforms got under way in January 1992. Lower prices for fruit and vegetables were the main cause. The State Statistics Committee said consumer prices... MORE

The oil company Sidanko has agreed to waive its claims to another oil company, Purneftegaz, which will enable the planned sale of shares in Rosneft to proceed. Sixty two percent of shares in Rosneft are due to be sold over the next six months, with... MORE