Shamil Basaev resigned yesterday from his post as first deputy prime minister of Chechnya. Basaev became a national hero in Chechnya -- and Russia's most wanted man -- when he led a bloody hostage-taking raid on the south Russian town of Budennovsk in June 1995.... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has issued his income declaration, in accordance with President Yeltsin's decree. The total value of Chernomyrdin's property is revealed to be a mere 268 million rubles ($46,000), including a house with 1.5 hectares of land (worth 150 million rubles) and... MORE

On July 10 the Russian government for the first time allowed private citizens to buy and sell gold. Aleksandr Potemkin, deputy head of the Central Bank, said one of the reasons for the move is to encourage citizens to put their savings in gold --... MORE

In a live radio interview on July 10, the maverick chairman of the Russian Duma's Defense Committee, Gen. Lev Rokhlin, assured listeners that an army defense organization he is now creating will "on no account become politicized." Rokhlin most recently made headlines late last month... MORE

The Russian armed forces' top budget officer, Lt. Gen. Georgy Oleinik, said yesterday that he was sure all the uniformed and civilian members of the armed forces would receive all their back pay over the next 2 months. This same timetable was also laid out... MORE

On the third anniversary of the election of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the legitimate parliament of Belarus yesterday issued an appeal to "Russia's democratic forces" in which it expressed its "bewilderment over the Russian leadership's attitude toward Lukashenka's violations of democratic norms... That attitude suggests that... MORE

Serhiy Tyhypko, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for economic policy, has said that he has no intention of taking on the job of prime minister, left vacant by last week's resignation of Pavlo Lazarenko. Tyhypko said he feels he does not have sufficient experience, having served... MORE

The Russian Foreign and Defense Ministries yesterday denied that the Russian armed forces had recently rehearsed repelling an attack by NATO, Polish, and Lithuanian forces -- and that the Russian exercise had practiced the use of nuclear weapons in the process. The officials were responding... MORE

Moscow informed the Chechen government yesterday that Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin had signed the customs agreement between Russia and Chechnya. The decision to sign the accord was made after the two sides resolved differences on the status of the "Sheikh Mansur" (formerly "Severny") airport... MORE

In Soviet times, the procuracy was probably the most highly respected institution in the eyes of the general public. The procuracy was responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious crimes, uprooting corruption, and monitoring the performance of the judicial system. Its officials were seen as honest... MORE