MVD DRAFTEES GO AWOL.

In another sign of mounting discontent among troops serving in Russia’s various "power" ministries, thirty soldiers from an Interior Ministry unit in the Perm region reportedly sent AWOL on August 19. The first-year draftees had complained of atrocious living conditions and brutal hazing in the barracks. The servicemen claim that they will not return to their unit until order is restored there. (Radio Russia, August 19)

Russian Diplomats Back Intelligence Service on Nikitin Arrest.