UNLAWFUL RUSSIAN ARMOR DELIVERIES TO ARMENIA CONFIRMED.

Russian defense minister Igor Rodionov has confirmed charges that the ministry delivered 84 T-72 tanks and 50 infantry-fighting armored vehicles to Armenia in 1994-1996 without government clearance, an action that defrauded the state budget of 270 billion rubles. A special investigative commission mandated by Rodionov reported its findings to the minister, and Chief Military Prosecutor Valentin Panichev has launched proceedings in the case. The affair was first revealed last month by the Duma’s Defense Committee chairman, General Lev Rokhlin, and was then pursued by CIS Cooperation Minister Aman Tuleyev, who yesterday circulated a letter from Rodionov confirming the charges. In the last few days Azerbaijan’s president, parliament, and Foreign Ministry have officially requested their Russian counterparts to investigate the affair, which Baku describes as a violation of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. (Interfax, Itar-Tass, AP, March 13; Turan, March 11-12)

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