ANOTHER TRIAL BALLOON ON NEW AIRBORNE COMMANDER.

"Well informed" Russian Defense Ministry sources have said that Lt. Gen. Georgi Shpak, currently chief of staff in the Volga Military District, will soon be named the new commander of the Airborne Forces. He is a former paratrooper who once commanded the 76th Airborne Division. Last month similar sources suggested that a non-paratrooper, Lt. Gen. Igor Malakhov, would be named to the post. That news was greeted with disappointment within the Airborne Forces. (Interfax, November 13)

Duma Tries to Assert Control Over the Government.