ST. PETERSBURG POLICE CHIEF SACKED.

The chief of police in Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg, was sacked over the weekend. A terse statement issued by the Interior Ministry in Moscow, which controls the appointment, said Lieutenant-General Anatoly Ponidelko had failed to prevent gross violations of the law by officers under his command. Major-General Viktor Vlasov has been appointed in Ponidelko’s place. (Itar-Tass, June 6) Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Skuratov said Ponidelko was dismissed because the St. Petersburg police had submitted false figures, claiming to have solved far more crimes than they really had. Ponidelko did not take the news quietly. He claimed his resolute campaign to stamp out corruption had made him enemies in high places and led to his dismissal. (RTR, June 6)

START II DEBATE IN RUSSIA NOT IMMINENT.