Top government officials addressed the mayors of Russia's leading cities at a meeting of the Union of Russian Cities in Moscow on April 5. (Itar-Tass, Interfax April 5) Deputy Prime Minister Alfred Kokh said that the country was facing a "crisis of statehood" because tax... MORE

The Russian Duma defied President Boris Yeltsin on April 4 when it approved for the second time a law asserting Russian ownership of works of art seized as booty during World War II. Last month, Yeltsin vetoed the bill, which would allow Russia to keep... MORE

A corruption trial has opened in the home province of First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov (Itar-Tass, April 4) Several officials of the Nizhny Novgorod Air Lines company are accused of pocketing two thirds of the proceeds from the sale of a Tu-134 aircraft by... MORE

President Aslan Maskhadov of Chechnya says he intends shortly to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and may use the opportunity to ask the leaders of Islamic nations to help his republic with economic aid. April 11 is being named as the likely date for his... MORE

With Spring comes a ritual dreaded by most of Russia's young men -- the beginning of the semi-annual call-up for military service. On April 4 President Boris Yeltsin's press service announced that the president had signed a decree ordering the induction of 214,160 conscripts by... MORE

Today is World Health Day. The World Health Organization is marking the occasion with a warning about the emergence of new and highly infectious diseases, including a health warning about an epidemic of sexually-transmitted diseases in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It says... MORE

The Russian and Ukrainian chiefs of the general staffs, Generals Viktor Samsonov and Oleksandr Zatynaiko, agreed in an April 5 telephone conversation on the resumption of Russian military flights in Ukrainian airspace, subject to Ukrainian clearance under rules in force since 1995. In an official... MORE

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma told a press conference on April 5 that he is worried by the situation in Crimea, where feuding between rival parliamentary factions has paralyzed parliament and government for nearly a month. (Interfax-Ukraine, April 5) Kuchma hinted that Kiev's patience is wearing... MORE

Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has released details of his personal income in a bid to refute the charge made by Le Monde last week that he has personal assets worth $5 billion. According to a government spokesman, Chernomyrdin earned 4.4 million rubles ($750) a month... MORE

The Russian Duma, already home to an "Anti-NATO" group said to include 240 deputies, yesterday voted unanimously to form an "anti-NATO commission." The new body is reportedly comprised of 15 deputies drawn from all of the Duma's factions and groups. The commission will examine materials... MORE