The Week Ahead: Russians are Likely to Suffer More Casualties in Chechnya More discussions on the fate of the Black Sea Fleet, a Russianassault on Chechen strongholds in the mountains, and electioneeringin both Russia and Armenia will dominate the week ahead. Black Sea Fleet Talks... MORE

The Week Just Past: Ukrainian President Wins New Powers Russian military advances in Chechnya, the accord between theUkrainian parliament and the Ukrainian president, and the agreementbetween Yeltsin and the Duma on the terms for this year's parliamentaryelections dominated the news last week. After three days... MORE

Fact Page: The Baltic States on-line The Baltic States On Line Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now very much on-line. Belowis a portion of a report on e-mail networks in the three countriesprepared by Guntis Barzdins of the University of Latvia's Instituteof Mathematics and Computer... MORE

Islam matters in Chechnya--but not the way many in Moscow think Paul A. GobleEditor-in-Chief, Prism "I'm a good Muslim; I pray three times a day." --Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev January 1995 In order to win Western support or at least acquiescence, Moscowhas tried to portray... MORE

A new ethnic challenge to borders in the Caucasus by David Nissman Since the Soviet Union ended, many national groups in the formerSoviet republics have challenged the existing state borders. Thishas been particularly true in the North Caucasus. In the North Caucasus, several nationalities split... MORE

Mayor Luzhkov wants money more than power by Victor Yasmann Last week, Boris Yeltsin called Moscow's Yuri Luzhkov "thebest mayor in Russia." The Russian president added that Muscovitesmust feel lucky to have such a leader, and he congratulated Luzhkovon his success in transforming the Russian... MORE

Yeltsin gets less than he wanted at CIS Summit by Vladimir Socor The May 26 summit meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent Statesin Minsk was a measure of how great a difference remains betweenthe declared goals of the CIS and actual reality. The sessionlasted slightly... MORE

The Week Ahead: Moscow navigates the Yugoslav rapids An expanded Russian military push in Chechnya, Russian concernsabout the international community's response to Bosnian Serbs,and a Russian-Ukrainian summit on the division of the Black Seafleet will be the major stories in the region next week. Moscow... MORE

The Week Just Past:Moscow joins Partnership for Peace but remains bogged down in Chechnya Russian diplomacy in Europe, Moscow's response to the tragicearthquake on Sakhalin, and the war in Chechnya dominated theweek. In Europe, Russia entered NATO's Partnership for Peace arrangement,was stung by NATO's moves... MORE

Fact Page: A Directory of US Embassies in the FSU A Directory of the US Embassies in the Former Soviet UnionUS Embassy in Azerbaijan-BakuAmerican Embassy BakuHotel IntouristBakuAzerbaijan(T) 7-8922-92-63-06 ext. 441-450 US Embassy in Belarus - MinskAmerican Embassy MinskStarovilenskaya #46MinskBelarus(T) 7-0172-34-65-37 US Embassy of the Republic... MORE