Hoping to contain the growth of pro-democracy and pro-independence political forces, President Aleksandr Lukashenko's authorities are now openly targeting opposition leaders across the political spectrum. In recent days, systematic acts of repression have been directed at: the forcibly dissolved parliament's chairman, Syamyon Sharetsky (Agrarian); its... MORE

Even as Boris Yeltsin was winding up his summit talks with U.S. president Bill Clinton in Helsinki on March 21, Moscow was preparing for high profile visits this week by Indian and Chinese delegations. Simultaneously, there were also announcements that energy deals with Iran and... MORE

Russia's official State Statistics Committee (Goskomstat) has been accused of manipulating the country's GDP figures. Goskomstat reported an increase in GDP for January and February of 0.1 and 0.9 percent, respectively, compared with January and February 1996. Now a team of Moscow economists says these... MORE

Communist and nationalist candidates scored strong election victories in several Russian regions this past weekend. In Tula oblast near Moscow, Vasili Starodubtsev was elected governor with 62 percent of the votes. Starodubtsev, who manages the region's Lenin collective farm, is a leader of the Agrarian... MORE

The Russian government is clearly jumpy about the nationwide strike called for Thursday, March 27, by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITU) to protest against rising unemployment and unpaid wages. FITU predicts that 20 million of Russia's 72.6 million workers will take... MORE

First Deputy Premier Anatoly Chubais traveled to the Kuzbass on March 21 to attend a nationwide congress of coal workers. The miners were among Yeltsin's most loyal backers in the early 1990s but have since become disenchanted by threatened pit closures and months-long wage delays.... MORE

Anatoly Kruglov, president of Russia's State Customs Committee, said on March 20 that the $39 billion trade surplus Russia recorded in 1996 was the third largest in the world, behind perennial trading powers Japan and Germany. (Interfax, March 20) Kruglov said that 96 percent of... MORE

Itar-Tass and Radio Russia say they have no intention of paying for the release of four employees kidnapped in Djohar-gala on March 4. Responding to a ransom demand for $3 million, the two companies issued a joint statement saying that "We must not encourage those... MORE

Turkey's Foreign Ministry yesterday urged the Russian government to expedite the investigation into deliveries of Russian tanks and infantry-fighting vehicles to Armenia, and to take "effective measures to prevent a recurrence." Such deliveries adversely affect regional peace and stability, the Turkish statement said. (Itar-Tass, March... MORE

A group of Russian human rights activists, headed by a respected veteran of the movement, Lyudmila Alekseeva, is calling on President Yeltsin to dismiss the present members of the presidential Human Rights Commission and its chairman, Vladimir Kartashkin. They want Yeltsin to appoint a new... MORE