Russian justice minister Valentin Kovalev has warned the governors of Rostov, Chelyabinsk, and Smolensk oblasts, as well as of the Chukchi, Evenki, Komi-Permyak, Taimyr, and Ust Orda Buryat Autonomous okrugs, that legislation adopted in their regions contravenes the Russian constitution and must be brought into... MORE

The Russian armed forces will have only enough procurement money in the next few years to fund the development of prototypes of new weapons and perhaps to modernize some of its present equipment, First Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin said yesterday. The armed forces should... MORE

Belarusan foreign minister Ivan Antanavich yesterday dismissed as a "private speech" the previous day's remarks by Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow. Luzhkov had called for unification of Russia and Belarus in a federal state with common armed forces and borders, and a joint Foreign Ministry.... MORE

The Georgian Foreign Ministry has rejected charges leveled by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the command of the "peacekeeping" forces that the Tbilisi authorities have been involved in recent guerrilla raids in Abkhazia; three Russian soldiers have been killed and several wounded in recent days.... MORE

Russian and Ukrainian military delegations met in Kiev yesterday to finalize an agreement on the joint use of Soviet ballistic missile early warning radar stations located in Ukraine. The press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry indicated that the agreement might be signed today. The... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov declared in Denmark yesterday that "Russia's attitude to the Baltic countries' possible membership in the European Union is positive." At the same time, Primakov ruled out Baltic accession to NATO as unacceptable and something that "would totally undermine our relations... MORE

The Latvian parliament yesterday rejected a proposal to grant citizenship to that part of its ethnic Polish population that has not yet met the legal qualifications for citizenship. The parliamentary majority upheld the constitution and citizenship law, which rule out ethnic criteria in granting or... MORE

Workers at the Akhtuba factory in Volgograd are being paid with samples of the plantÕs new products -- including rubber sex aids -- and they arenÕt happy about it. The factory once produced navigational equipment for the navy and employees have reportedly not received any... MORE

Less than eight months after his appointment as defense minister was greeted with praise across Russia's political spectrum, retired Gen. Igor Rodionov appears to be on the hot seat. Russian president Boris Yeltsin met yesterday in the Kremlin with Col. Gen. Viktor Chechevatov, commander of... MORE

The Taliban leadership today accused Moscow of raising the specter of a "Taliban threat" in order to "tell the Central Asian countries to turn to Moscow for help and agree to a Russian military presence on their territories." Information Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi stated that... MORE