RUSSIA’S GROUND FORCES COMMANDER STILL IN LIMBO.

A source in Russia’s Defense Ministry said on January 13 that the status of former Ground Forces commander-in-chief Army Gen. Vladimir Semenov would remain unresolved until president Boris Yeltsin recovers from his current illness. (Interfax, January 13) The original announcement of Semenov’s sacking came on December 2, and the enduring failure to clarify his situation attests to the politicization that continues to paralyze Russia’s efforts to advance military reform. That failure has left Russia’s Ground Forces — the most troubled of its five military service branches — bereft of leadership on the eve of planned force reductions and restructuring. Semenov’s long stay in limbo may be due also to what some Russian observers believe to be growing disenchantment in the Kremlin over the performance of Igor Rodionov, Russia’s recently civilianized Defense Minister. (See Monitor, December 3-5; January 10)

U.S. and Russia Release Once-Secret Arctic Data.