Up to 1,400 Russian troops will remain a part of the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia until its UN mandate ends in mid-1998. President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree to that effect on April 16. Col. Gen. Leonty Shevtsov will remain in command of... MORE

Russia's Magnitogorsk "Remstroimash" plant has a contract to supply 1,000 bio-toilets to the Israeli military. The plant normally builds cranes, automatic hoists, and hydraulic ram components, but has had a hard time selling these products of late. (Itar-Tass, April 11) Yeltsin Says He'll Go to... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin told a news conference in Germany yesterday that he will travel to Paris for a May 27 signing of the NATO-Russian political agreement still being drafted by the two sides. "We have to hurry," Yeltsin said in reference to the negotiations.... MORE

Russian first deputy premier Anatoly Chubais told the upper house of the Russian parliament yesterday that Russia faces a "monstrous" budget crisis that threatens the viability of the state. He said proposals to revise the budget and slash government spending will be presented to parliament... MORE

Two North Ossetian workers were kidnapped on April 17 in Chechnya's Nadterechny District. The kidnappers are demanding a ransom of $200,000. (Interfax, April 17) Kidnappings are an almost daily occurrence in Chechnya. Kidnapped Chechens and Dagestanis are sometimes released without ransom and, in rare cases,... MORE

All of the civilized world seems to be interested in helping Russia liquidate the weapons of mass destruction that it inherited from the USSR. In particular, the U.S. Congress has appropriated billions of dollars in various programs for this purpose, and American businessmen have created... MORE

. A giant "Ruslan" An-124 transport delivered two Mi-17 military helicopters to Bogota, Colombia yesterday. The pair are the first of 10 Mi-17s purchased by Colombia last year in a deal that was hailed as a Russian breakthrough into the Latin American arms market. Also... MORE

While the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) have removed all the nuclear warheads from the 104 SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that were once deployed in Kazakstan, as well as withdrawing most of the missiles themselves, they continue to test these giant missiles from Kazak... MORE

Russia's Federation Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution yesterday urging President Boris Yeltsin to raise the "disputed issue" of Sevastopol in Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental negotiations, including those involving a framework political treaty. The resolution calls on Russia's executive branch to seek "official Ukrainian recognition of the existence... MORE

Armenian foreign minister Alexander Arzumanian has proposed establishing a trilateral framework for cooperation among Armenia, Iran, and Greece. Arzumanian discussed the proposal in Yerevan with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Velayati, who in turn cited Greek consent to hold a meeting of the three foreign... MORE