UPDATE ON THE EXPLOSION IN YEKATERINBURG
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, April 27, 1999, p. 2
The device went off at about 6 a.m. Saturday at the parking lot reserved for diplomats right near the Consulate. Windows in all nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion. In the building of the Consulate itself, window frames on all four stories were wrecked, and door to the police cubicle at the main entrance was blown off.
The device must have contained at least three kilograms of dynamite. Security claims not to have been threatened in any way: recently, only protesters representing various political organizations turned up near the consulates of the United States and Great Britain, located side by side, chanting demands to stop the NATO operation in Yugoslavia.
Security in and around the building has been stepped up.
ZYUGANOV: THE WORLD NEEDS RUSSIA
Pravda, April 27, 1999, p. 1
Communist leader Zyuganov has announced at a Cyprus conference on the Balkans crisis that Russia is once again facing a complicated choice (to a considerable extent because of the utter failure of Boris Yeltsin’s policy).
Gennadi Zyuganov attended a forum organized in Nicosia by activists of leftist political parties from 12 countries (including five EU countries) in an attempt to work out a common strategy for handling the Kosovo problem.
Zyuganov condemned the United States and NATO for using the Kosovo issue as a pretext for gaining a foothold and solidifying their positions in Europe.
STROYEV: A SENSE OF UNITY IS WHAT COUNTS NOW
Parlamentskaya Gazeta, April 27, 1999, p. 2
A conference on “Priorities and Mechanisms of Russia’s Economic Policy in the Critical Period” opened yesterday at the Russian Presidential Academy of State Service. According to Yegor Stroyev, Chairman of the Federation Council, it aims to answer the question: “What is more important for Russia now – a sense of unity or the madness of a confrontation?” The conference was organized at the suggestion of the upper house of parliament.
Opening the discussion, Stroyev emphasized that society now had to work out “a policy of industrial growth”.
Stroyev: What we need is some prompt and coordinated moves on the part of the powers-that-be so as to provide normal industrial growth.
The politician pointed out the necessity of “equalizing the levels of socioeconomic development of the regions”. He said that we should create a mechanism of non-budget relations, establish a banking system where an important part would be played by regional banks, and work out development stimulation measures for all regions.
ANOTHER EXPLOSION IN MOSCOW
Komsomolskaya Pravda, April 27, 1999, p. 2
Fourteen people were injured to varying degrees in the explosion that rocked the Intourist Hotel in Moscow, at 2:35 p.m. yesterday.
According to preliminary reports, the device contained over 200 grams of dynamite and went off on the 19th floor. The office of Iosif Kobzon is located on the same floor. Fortunately, he was not in the hotel at the time.
Boris Nikolsky, Deputy Premier of the Moscow government, confirms that the terrorist act was directed against Kobzon; the bomb blew up right near the former singer’s office.
The police have been searching Moscow for a Zhiguli-6 car with four people of Caucasus ethnicity inside, who might have had something to do with the explosion.
US DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE COMES TO MOSCOW
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, April 26, 1999, 15:00
In a telephone conversation lasting ninety minutes, Russian and American presidents Yeltsin and Clinton discussed a wide range of issues, predictably related to Yugoslavia. Finally, a decision was made to raise the intensity and level of the negotiations. That is why Strobe Talbott is expected in Moscow at about 4 p.m. today.
A conference on the Yugoslavian problem was convened in the Kremlin this morning, prior to Talbott’s visit. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, chief of the General Staff, directors of the Foreign Intelligence Service and GRU (army intelligence), and Director of the Presidential Administration Alexander Voloshin were present.
By the time the conference ended, the program of Talbott’s visit to Moscow was not known in detail yet. Everybody assumed however that Talbott would mostly be meeting with Presidential Envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin, and with Ivanov. Negotiations may begin as soon as this evening.
STEPASHIN CLOSES THE BORDER WITH CHECHNYA
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, April 26, 1999, 15:00
Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin signed an order which will virtually close the administrative border with Chechnya, as he himself announced today at a rally in the settlement of Kurskaya (Stavropol Territory).
Stepashin: Essentially, we are closing the border with Chechnya, because this lawlessness, all these abductions and murders cannot be tolerated anymore.
The minister added that no restrictions on extermination of gangsters were imposed now by his order. According to Stepashin, the border will be closed for gangsters and not for law-abiding persons.
Stepashin announced that four combat helicopters of the Internal Troops would now be constantly patrolling the Chechen border, under orders to observe and, whenever possible, to eliminate any discovered gangsters.
SKURATOV CASE REMAINS A DEEP DARK SECRET
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, April 26, 1999, 15:00
The Commission of the Federation Council for Corruption which is handling the Skuratov issue has requested all materials on the matter from the Federal Security Service, Prosecutor’s Office, Interior Ministry, and the presidential apparatus, according to Chairman Yegor Stroyev.
Stroyev was quoted as saying that General Military Prosecutor Yuri Demin denied his permission to publish the confidential letter sent to the Chairman of the Constitutional Court Sergei Sobyanin, as the Federation Council had requested, and threatened to file a lawsuit if the upper house of parliament went ahead anyway.
The Federation Council wants all relevant materials declassified and published.
