In the Moscow metro, one of the cruelest terrorists acts of recent times has occurred. During rush hour, in the last car, an explosion killed 39 and wounded approximately 100. President Putin blamed Maskhadov for the event. Full Story...
Repression of the press by the Belorusian authorities has cleared the way to “a total and uncontestable” victory in the parliamentary elections to be held this October. Full Story...
This is the second part of our publication of eyewitness accounts concerning the fateful missile attack on Grozny, which occurred on 21 October 1999. On that day, the Russian Army’s strike took 137 civilian lives, with more than 260 others injured. In the following weeks, Russian aviation carried out a series of other missile attacks on refugees. Full Story...
On 21 October 1999, at half past four in the afternoon the Russian army struck the most densely populated regions of Grozny with “ground to ground” tactical rockets. The central maternity hospital, central market, Olympic district of the city, main post office and a mosque in the village of Kalinin were all hit. 137 people were killed and more than 260 injured. A week later the Russian Air Force carried out a series of rocket attacks on refugees. Full Story...
On 21 January, the president of the American-based World Association of Belarus Jews (WABJ), Jakob Gutman, announced his commencement of a hunger strike in protest at the “politics of state anti-Semitism in Belarus”.
7 days before, Gutman undertook his first attempt at attracting the attention of the country’s leadership: this in connection with the destruction of synagogues in Minsk; graveyards in Mozir, Rogachev and Grodno; and various memorials to victims of the holocaust. The action was concluded with his detention and an official reprimand from the Lenin court in Minsk. From 14 January, Gutman went on hunger strike at home.
 Full Story...
Russian army veterans living in Estonia, along with members of their families, have had the possibility of receiving permanent residency in the country withdrawn.
On New Years Eve, the Estonian President, Arnold Ruutel, ratified amendments to the law on foreign citizens already accepted by the Estonian parliament. Moscow’s answer was swift and harsh. Full Story...
The press office of Russia’s Ministry of Defence has published its reaction to the the decree from President Putin that reservists may be enlisted to the military in peacetime. Full Story...
The absence of any genuine opponents in the forthcoming presidential elections places Putin in a ridiculous position. It would be quite idiotic to be the victor over Zhirinovskii or Sterligov. If Zyuganov or Yavlinskii participated in the elections it would not add much lustre to Putin’s crown, but all the same it would rescue the situation from the point of view of political propriety. Full Story...
Despite the fact that the president of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov has called the politics of his country the politics of open doors, in reality the opposite is true. Foreigners, working in various regions, are under the complete control of the local secret services. In particular, volunteers from the American Peace Corps are continually aware of the close attention paid to them by the Committee for National Security. Full Story...
In the prison world rapists are one of the least respected categories of prisoner. In the past, when the law on rape was still not being applied to anyone, who needed to be sent to prison for committing some offence or other, prisoners sent down for rape led a miserable existence. They were treated as outcasts by other inmates. Only policemen who had committed crimes were treated worse. It would be putting it mildly to say that they are still do not command any sympathy in prison. One can only imagine how a policeman would feel if he had been convicted of rape! Full Story...