Moscow lost contact for five hours this morning with the Republic of Buryatia on Russia's southern border with Mongolia. Military communications were among those cut when thieves stole 60 meters of communication cable. (BBC World Service, June 19) Russian Budget Standoff Continues.

The standoff continues for a third day today between the Russian government and parliament over the government's proposals to slash social welfare spending and revise the 1997 budget to make up for massive tax shortfalls. Today, the Duma is to discuss a draft tax code... MORE

Russia's Federal Migration Service this week marked its fifth anniversary. Its president, Tatyana Regent, reports that in the last five years 4.5 million people migrated to Russia from the CIS and Baltic countries, of which 1.2 million were granted "forced migrant" status. The influx has... MORE

According to a nationwide poll by the Russian Public Opinion Center in May, 50 percent of respondents felt no sympathy toward any political party; 22 percent expressed their support for the Communists; 16 percent for democrats; 4 percent for patriots; and 4 percent were inclined... MORE

In a recent poll, 75 percent of respondents said they believe it is very important for Russia to regain its position as a superpower. Some 62 percent want to see their country become a world economic leader, while 30 percent believe that it should aim... MORE

An understanding on regular meetings between the Russian and Chinese prime ministers, reached during Boris Yeltsin's trip to China last year, is to be formalized when Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's makes his own official visit to China on June 26-28. Russian diplomatic sources say... MORE

The Russian state arms export company Rosvooruzhenie announced yesterday in Paris that it had signed a contract with an Israeli firm to build an An-50 airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft equipped with an Israeli radar. The plane would be supplied to any interested clients, "including... MORE

The UN envoy in Tajikistan, Gerd-Dietrich Merrem, announced yesterday that Tajik opposition forces hold three Russian soldiers as prisoners. The opposition leadership is offering to include those Russians as a means of facilitating a reciprocal government-opposition exchange of prisoners and detainees. The government had earlier... MORE

Belarusan president Alyaksandr Lukashenka's administration and leaders of the forcibly dissolved parliament yesterday began a dialogue mediated by a delegation from the European Union. Foreign Minister Ivan Antanovich and presidential administration deputy chief Alyaksandr Abramovich head Lukashenka's delegation. The legitimate parliament's chairman, Syamyon Sharetsky, and... MORE

A seminar on "Russian-Armenian relations in the context of Russia's policy in the Caucasus," held in Moscow yesterday, reviewed the state of bilateral military and political relations. The deputy chief of the Russian General Staff's international cooperation section, Maj. Gen. Vasily Grigoriev, stated that more... MORE