Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin called on the Duma this morning to approve deep cuts in public spending to compensate for a shortfall in tax revenue. So far this year, tax collection is only a little over half the planned level. To make up the... MORE

One of the most disturbing features of the late Soviet period was the high rate of morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, since 1991 the health of Russians has continued to deteriorate as falling income and social stress have been added to long-standing problems such as pollution,... MORE

Charging that Defense Minister Igor Rodionov had failed to follow his earlier orders, President Boris Yeltsin yesterday directed the military to halt the reorganization and reduction of Russia's Airborne Troops. The ministry was in the process of cutting the force from 46,000 to 34,000 men... MORE

Chechnya's first deputy premier, Movladi Udugov, says Chechnya has accepted the formal apology offered by Russian Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin for an incident yesterday in which a plane carrying Chechen vice president Vakha Arsanov was intercepted over southern Russia by Russian fighter planes. Arsanov... MORE

Kremlin press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky announced yesterday that President Boris Yeltsin will travel to Paris on May 26-27 for the signing of the recently concluded NATO-Russia political agreement. But Yastrzhembsky also indicated that Moscow will, as it has in recent days (see yesterday's Monitor), continue... MORE

Taliban forces yesterday made significant advances in northern Afghanistan against the ethnic Uzbek, Russian-backed warlord, Abdul Rashid Dostum, after his top lieutenant, Gen. Abdul Malik, switched sides in Taliban's favor. In western Afghanistan, Taliban forces gained ground against Iran-backed Shiite forces. (Western and Russian agencies,... MORE

Polish president Alexander Kwasniewski yesterday began a three-day state visit to Ukraine, where President Leonid Kuchma praised Poland's role in promoting Ukraine's cooperation with the West. The two presidents are to sign a declaration of historic reconciliation among the two peoples. The document reportedly reviews... MORE

In a concession to the Communist-dominated Duma, President Boris Yeltsin has promoted Agriculture Minister Viktor Khlystun to deputy prime minister in charge of the agroindustrial complex. The Communists and their agrarian allies complained when the new government was formed in March that agriculture was being... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin has relieved Gen. Konstantin Kobets of his duties and discharged him from military service, Kremlin press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said yesterday. (AP, Itar-Tass, May 20) Kobets, charged several days earlier with financial misdealings (see Monitor, May 19), had served as Russian deputy... MORE

Two officers in an air force transport regiment stationed in Krechevitsky, near Novgorod in the Leningrad Military District, started a hunger strike on May 19 to protest not having received their full wages for the past 11 months. They were supported by another 30 servicemen... MORE