IRKUTSK REGIONAL ELECTION MAY TAKE PLACE WITHOUT BORIS GOVORIN
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 16, 2001, p. 2
The Irkutsk municipal court is considering an application for incumbent Governor Boris Govorin to be disqualified from the regional election.
The application was filed by Lyudmila Drobysheva, one of the candidates who lost in the first round of voting on July 29. Drobysheva is demanding Govorin’s disqualification for numerous alleged infractions. Specifically, Govorin did not take leave of absence for the duration of the campaign, and was constantly on television in his capacity as governor.
The court plans to call Govorin’s major rival in the second round, Duma Deputy Sergei Levchenko, as a witness.
CHECHEN NATIONAL CONGRESS WILL GO AHEAD
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 16, 2001, p. 2
Salambek Maigov, chairman of the ad hoc committee of the Chechen National Committee, met with journalists on Wednesday. The Congress will meet in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, in mid-September.
Maigov expects over 800 delegates, 600 of them from Chechnya. Delegates to the Congress will be elected by villagers with imams of the local mosques present as witnesses. Maigov promises the Congress will be a nationwide peace conference aimed at putting an end to the hostilities in Chechnya, and does not rule out the possibility that it may be attended by Aslan Maskhadov’s envoys and representatives of the Chechen parliament elected in 1997.
ALEXANDER VOLOSHIN RETURNING FROM A VISIT TO CUBA
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 16, 2001, p. 1
Alexander Voloshin, Director of the Presidential Administration, met with Fidel Castro during a visit to Cuba. Their meeting lasted six hours. Voloshin and Castro discussed a broad range of issues concerning bilateral relations and the international situation. On behalf of President Vladimir Putin, Voloshin congratulated Castro on his 75th birthday.
Voloshin also met with Raoul Castro, Defense Minister and Senior Deputy Chairman of the State Council and government, and with Carlos Laje, Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers.
U.S. AIR FORCE DELEGATION VISITING RUSSIA
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 16, 2001, p. 1
A US Air Force delegation headed by Lieutenant-General Thomas Keck, Commander of the 8th US AF Army, is expected in Russia. The delegation will visit long-range aviation units and formations stationed in Ryazan, Engels, and Saltsy between August 20 and 25. At some point, Keck will fly in a TU-23M3 and other delegation members will fly in an IL-78 midair refueller. On August 24, the delegation will be received by Air Force Commander-in-Chief Anatoly Kornukov.
UNION OF RIGHT FORCES LAUNCHES A MASS CAMPAIGN
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, August 16, 2001, p. 1
The Union of Right Forces is distributing copies of “The Black Book of Communism” to schools, universities, and libraries throughout Russia. The book is a compilation of the work of several authors, including Stephane Courtois and Nicolas Werth. First published in Paris in 1997, the book became a worldwide best-seller. In Russia, it was first published in 1999 (with a print run of 5,000). The prologue to the Russian translation was written by Alexander Yakovlev, once a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU and one of the “architects of perestroika”. The book is about communism in the Soviet Union, North Korea, China, and Cambodia.
SERGEI YUSHENKOV WANTS BORIS YELTSIN BACK IN GOVERNMENT
Moskovsky Komsomolets, August 16, 2001, p. 2
Duma Deputy Sergei Yushenkov, of the Union of Right Forces faction, says that Boris Yeltsin should return to the corridors of power. The statement was made at the roundtable conference convened yesterday on the 10th anniversary of the 1991 coup attempt.
According to Yushenkov, Yeltsin has not yet accomplished his historical mission. The same applies to Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Yeltsin “has not set up a reliable and stable mechanism for guaranteeing the preservation of the course chosen ten years ago”; Gorbachev “never transformed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union into a social-democratic party.” Gorbachev is now trying to do so by forming a new party, but Yeltsin need to return to politics to accomplish his task. Yushenkov believes this is necessary because “Russia has been showing a slow but steady trend to drift away from democracy, toward an authoritarian police state.”
A FEW FIGURES FROM THE 2002 BUDGET
Moskovsky Komsomolets, August 16, 2001, p. 2
According to Education Minister Vladimir Filippov, expenditure on education in the 2002 federal budget will be increased by 57%. Teachers’ salaries will be raised by an average of 84% from December this year.
CHECHEN TERRORISTS WILL USE POISONS
Sovetskaya Rossiya, August 16, 2001, p. 1
The Federal Security Service (FSB) believes that Chechen separatists intend to use toxic substances in future terrorist acts. The FSB cites an intercepted conversation between field commander Rizvan Chitigov and Khizir Alkhazurov. Alkhazurov is in the United Arab Emirates now, where he represents the Chechen guerrillas. Chitigov requested Alkhazurov to obtain instruction for making poisons.
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT FAILS IN CHECHNYA
Sovetskaya Rossiya, August 16, 2001, p. 1
Secret services operating in Chechnya say Prosecutor Vsevolod Chernov had a miraculous escape from death on August 14.
Chernov was touring Chechnya that day. As his car was leaving Argun, separatists attempted to blow it up with a remote-controlled landmine on the road. For some reason, however, the mine did not go off.
The secret services say the guerrillas are really after Chernov. This was not the first attempt on his life.
