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#3
ORT Review
www.ortv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba7@bu.edu)
Research intern at the Center for Defense Information
Research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and
Policy at Boston University

HEADLINES,
Monday, September 17, 2001


- Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin forecasts that this year's total
inflation will not exceed 17.5%. Last year's inflation was 20.29%.

- Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov met with deputy prime ministers
and other key ministers. Economic issues -- including balancing the
federal and regional budgets and providing funds for the winter -- were
high on the agenda.

- The foreign ministers of G-8 member nations may meet as soon as next
week to discuss the problem of terrorism.

- Many journalists are following events around Afghanistan from the area
around the headquarters of Russia's 201st division, stationed across the
border in Tajikistan.

- Vyacheslav Volodin, the leader of the State Duma's Fatherland - All
Russia faction, has suggested that the Duma pass a resolution supporting
President Putin's actions in the difficult international situation.

- U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bolton met with Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov to discuss cooperation against international
terrorism. Russian-American consultations on the subject will continue on
Wednesday.

- The Afghan community in Moscow is closely following news from
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many suggest that, in the event of a military
intervention, popular support for the Taliban will increase.

- An MI-8 helicopter carrying a commission of the General Headquarters of
the Armed Forces was shot down at 12:15, en route from Grozny to the
central base in Khankala. It was fired upon from a portable guided
missile system like the American "Stinger" or the Russian "Strela."
Recently, the Chechen fighters have begun using these weapon again. The
helicopter's fuel tank exploded and thirteen people -- including
Lieutenant-General Anatoly Pozdniakov, deputy head of one of the
departments of the Main Operative Directorate of the General Headquarters
and Major-General Pavel Varfolomeev, a representative of the Main
Directorate of the Defense Ministry, died. Earlier, at dawn, a group of
fighters attacked the position of the temporary department of interior
affairs in Gudermes and the blockposts of the Kaliningrad, Orenburg and
Buryatia police divisions. Two hours later, the attacks were repeated.
Several policemen were wounded. After back-up arrived, 15 fighters were
destroyed and the rest dispersed. The city of Gudermes was closed off.
Later, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov reported that 10 interior troops
died and 8 were wounded.

- Construction on the Ostankino television tower, which was damaged in
last year's fire, is completed. Experts note that the signal has been
dramatically improved in Moscow and throughout the surrounding area.

- The International "Language and Culture" conference is drawing to a
close in Moscow. Scholars criticized the decision made in Tatarstan two
years ago to Latinize the script.

- A press conference dedicated to the third Russian All-national
Ecological Forum took place in Moscow. The forum begins tomorrow. The
ecologists will work on an ecological doctrine for Russia.

- A fire drill took place at the Northern Garrison Fleet in Roslyakovo.
High school students were evacuated as part of the training (which was
related to the upcoming arrival of the Kursk nuclear submarine to the
local dock for repairs).

- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klabanov has reported that the
lifting of the Kursk has been rescheduled for September 25th. The primary
hypotheses for the accident will be announced at a St. Petersburg meeting
of a governmental commission on September 24th.

- Russian Security Council Chairman Vladimir Rushailo met with his Indian
counterpart Rajesh Mishra in preparation for the upcoming Russian-Indian
summit. Questions of regional and international security were discussed.

- Vladimir Rushailo will set out on an official trip to the Central Asian
nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He will discuss the
situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan in light of the terrorist acts
in the USA with Central Asian leaders.

- Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the threat of international
terrorism with Azeri President Geidar Aliev over the telephone. The
presidents discussed the prospects of strengthening cooperation between
the Transcaucasian states. Putin also had a telephone conversation about
international terrorism with Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov.

- American newspaper The Washington Post reported that Uzbek Foreign
Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov stated that the Uzbek government is prepared to
allow the US to use its territory and airspace for a strike against
Afghanistan.

Highlights from the weekend

Sunday, September 16, 2001

- President Putin met with cabinet members immediately upon returning from
Armenia to discuss the progress of the consultations.

- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has placed the 201st division of
the Russian Army (located near the Afghan border in Tajikistan) on high
alert.

- Volgoda residents commemorated the two-year anniversary of the apartment
bombings.

Saturday, September 15, 2001

- British singer Tom Jones performed at the Kremlin today.

- Restoration in Lensk is almost complete. By this evening, 235 houses
will have been finished.

- President Putin sent a greeting to Dnepropetrovsk residents, who
celebrated the 225th anniversary of the founding of their city today. He
noted that it was in Dnepropetrovsk that the Russian and Ukrainian
Presidents reached an agreement on strengthening economic and
scientific-technological cooperation.

 
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