#3 - JRL 7065
TV1 Review
www.1tv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba_sch@hotmail.com)
Research Analyst, Center for Defense Information, Moscow office
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS,
Saturday, February 15, 2003
- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov returned from New York. He met with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Alvaro Gil-Robles to discuss plans for the reconstruction of Chechnya.
- Another man suspected in the planning of the May 9, 2002 terrorist act in Kaspiisk has been arrested in Moscow. 28-year-old Makhachkala resident Khanali Umkhanov was detained for robbery at the Belarusskaya Metro station.
- Additional water pumps will be delivered to the Karmadon Gorge to help search for the tunnel.
- The annual animation festival was held in Suzdal.
- The Russian long-distance aviation service held large-scale exercises at airfields in the Novgorod and Kaluzhskaya Oblasts. Six fighter jets released up to 36 tons of bombs within three minutes, while two other aircraft sent missiles that fly at 3,000 kilometers an hour.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacque Rogge. Rogge’s trip to Moscow had been delayed after the dispute about the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. During his visit Rogge discussed the role of sports in world affairs, Russia’s part in the Olympics, and Moscow’s candidacy as the host of the 2012 Olympic Games. - The 14th anniversary of the withdrawal of Russian forces from Afghanistan was marked. The last soldiers of the 40th division crossed the Amu-Darya bridge on February 15, 1989. The ten-year war in Afghanistan cost Russia 6 billion rubles in gold.
Sunday, February 16, 2003
- Acting Governor Nikolai Dudov is leading the gubernatorial elections in the Magadan Oblast. He has received over 50% of the vote. The other candidate is lagging by 8%. Ballots have been counted at 113 of the 116 electoral districts.
- Turnout for the presidential elections in the Kolymsky Krai was registered at 52.25%.
- A group of rebels was destroyed in the Shalin region of Chechnya. Four Turkish mercenaries were among the fighters. A total of 24 Turkish mercenaries have been killed by federal forces over the past six months.
- Search-and-rescue workers will descend 69 feet into the Karmadon Gorge in North Ossetia to look for the victims of the glacier, if the water can be pumped out from the recently- discovered tunnel.
- Five candidates are participating in the presidential election in the Republic of Mordovia. They are: incumbent Nikolai Merkushkin and 4 general directors of various enterprises within the republic -- Anatoly Chubukov, Yuri Bormusov, Sergei Gurianov and Aleksandr Sharin.
- The electoral commission of the Republic of Chechnya and the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation have invited international observers from a number of European structures, including the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- Reservists from the Chemical Defense Division of the Moscow Military District have been summoned for training. Over 800 servicemen will participate in the exercises, which will last for 10 days. According to the standards of most armies, reservists have to undergo retraining every 5 years.
- Experts expect that the influenza epidemic, which has been registered in 23 of Russia’s regions, will last through the end of March.
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