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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


August 2003 Russia Special Weapons News



  • Russia: Nine Die As Nuclear Submarine Sinks RFE/RL 31 Aug 2003 -- Russia's defense minister and the commander of the navy's Northern Fleet declared today a day of mourning for the nine crew members who died when a nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea while being towed yesterday.
  • RUSSIA/SUBMARINE VOA 31 Aug 2003 -- Russia's defense minister says human error was to blame for the sinking of one of his nation's nuclear submarines on Saturday. He and other officials say a failure to follow instructions was a large part of what happened.
  • RUSSIA/SPACE VOA 31 Aug 2003 -- A Russian space capsule carrying more than two tons of supplies has docked with the International Space Station. In addition to its regular shipment of cargo, the capsule delivered mail and music to the two men on the station.
  • Russia, Iran to sign protocol on return of spent nuclear fuel IRNA 30 Aug 2003 -- Russia is ready to sign a protocol on the return of spent nuclear fuel with Iran, Deputy Nuclear Energy Minister Valery Govorukhin said.
  • RUSSIA/SUBMARINE VOA 30 Aug 2003 -- At least two sailors are dead and seven are missing, after a Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank in the northwestern Barents Sea. Defense officials say one crew member has been rescued from the decommissioned submarine, which was being towed to a scrap yard when it sank.
  • Chechnya: Kadyrov Seen As Front-Runner Ahead Of October Vote RFE/RL 29 Aug 2003 -- Nearly a dozen candidates will compete in Chechen presidential elections in October. This week Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov, the current Moscow-appointed administrator of Chechnya, registered as a candidate. Many analysts pick him as an early favorite on the assumption that he enjoys the support of the Kremlin.
  • Russian keen to proceed with Iran`s nuke program IRNA 28 Aug 2003 -- Russia`s Atomic Energy Ministry here on Thursday dismissed the prospect of stopping nuclear cooperation with Iran for peaceful purpose.
  • U-S/RUSSIA/IRAN VOA 27 Aug 2003 -- The United States has again raised with Russian officials its objections to Moscow's assistance to Iran's nuclear program. The U-N's nuclear watchdog calls Iran's efforts an issue of urgent concern and one that will be addressed by the body next month.
  • RUSSIA/U-S/NUKES VOA 25 Aug 2003 -- The senior U-S diplomat for arms control, John Bolton, is expected to reaffirm U-S concerns about the nuclear intentions of North Korea and Iran, during two days of talks in Moscow.
  • Russia: Scientist Gets Jail Plus Amnesty After Spy Trial RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- A court in Vladivostok today sentenced a Russian scientist convicted of disclosing state secrets to China, but then immediately released him.
  • RUSSIA/HELICOPTER VOA 24 Aug 2003 -- The bodies of 20 people killed in a helicopter crash Wednesday in Russia's Far East have been recovered from a remote area. Officials are investigating the cause of the crash, which killed the governor of the oil-rich Sakhalin region.
  • RUSSIA AIR SHOW VOA 24 Aug 2003 -- A nearly weeklong air and space show that brought together aircraft and aerospace companies from many nations has ended in Russia. American military planes were at the biennial show for the first time.
  • Chechnya: Nine Russian Soldiers Killed In Bomb Attack RFE/RL 22 Aug 2003 -- Nine Russian soldiers were killed by a bomb that exploded close to their vehicle near Grozny.
  • Russia: Search Resumes For Missing Helicopter In Far East RFE/RL 21 Aug 2003 -- Teams of rescuers and the military today resumed the search for a missing helicopter in Russia's Far East.
  • RUSSIA/HELICOPTER VOA 21 Aug 2003 -- Rescue teams are continuing their search for a helicopter that has disappeared in Russia's Far East with the governor of a major region and up to 20 other people on board. Scores of ships and planes are scouring the southern end of the rugged Kamchatka peninsula
  • New Chapter of DPRK-Russia Friendship KCNA 20 Aug 2003 -- A year has passed since leader Kim Jong Il made a historic visit to the Far Eastern Region of the Russian Federation. He made an immortal contribution to the development of the DPRK-Russia friendship with his energetic external activities, making over 2,800 kilometer-long journey from August 20 to 24, 2002.
  • RUSSIA/ HELICOPTER VOA 20 Aug 2003 -- Authorities in the Russian Far East have suspended the search for a missing helicopter carrying at least 16 people over the northern Kuril Islands, off Russia's Pacific Coast. A regional governor is among the missing.
  • Chechnya: Five Russian Soldiers Killed RFE/RL 15 Aug 2003 -- Russia's Interior Ministry says five Russian soldiers were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a remote-controlled mine in the Vedeno district in southern Chechnya.
  • RUSSIA / NORTH KOREA VOA 13 Aug 2003 -- Russia is holding separate talks with diplomats from North and South Korea in an effort to ease tensions over North Korea's nuclear program.
  • Russia: Talks With Korean Officials Begin In Moscow RFE/RL 13 Aug 2003 -- Russian officials have today opened separate talks with North Korean and South Korean delegates in Moscow.
  • Chechnya: Expert Sees Politics Behind U.S. Terrorist Designation Of Basayev RFE/RL 12 Aug 2003 -- The U.S. State Department has designated Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev as a terrorist threat to America. The move forces the Treasury Department to freeze any U.S. assets that may belong to Basayev, who claimed to be behind last year's seizure of a Moscow theater that ended in the death of 129 hostages. But why has Washington chosen to take action against Basayev now?
  • Chechnya: Five Russian Servicemen Killed RFE/RL 11 Aug 2003 -- An official in the Kremlin-backed Chechen administration said today that separatist forces in Chechnya killed five federal servicemen over the past 24 hours.
  • RUSSIA/KOREA VOA 10 Aug 2003 -- Officials from Russia and North and South Korea will hold talks in Moscow this week to prepare for six-way negotiations about North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Those later talks will also include China, the United States and Japan, possibly later this month.
  • CHINA/JAPAN/NORTH KOREA VOA 10 Aug 2003 -- An energetic round of diplomatic activity continues in preparation for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Diplomats from China, Japan and Russia are on the road for planning meetings.
  • U.S. Designates Chechen Rebel Leader as Terrorist Washington File 08 Aug 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell has designated Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev a threat to U.S. security and citizens.
  • U-S / CHECHNYA VOA 08 Aug 2003 -- The State Department has designated Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev a threat to U-S national security, and imposed financial sanctions against him. Three Chechen rebel groups linked to Mr. Basayev were penalized by the United States earlier this year.
  • RUSSIA/ CHECHNYA VOA 08 Aug 2003 -- Police in the Russian republic of Ingushetia are searching for the unidentified gunmen who killed six Russian soldiers and wounded seven Thursday near the border with the volatile republic of Chechnya.
  • Russia: String Of Bombings Belie Kremlin Hopes Of Chechnya's 'Normalization' RFE/RL 06 Aug 2003 -- The suicide bombing that killed 50 people at a military hospital in the North Ossetian city of Mozdok last week appears to be another major setback in Moscow's increasingly bloody and unsuccessful effort to tame rebel forces in Chechnya. The recent adoption of a constitution and preparations for local elections have not "normalized" the situation in the breakaway republic, as the Kremlin had hoped.
  • Russia: Three Suspects Detained Over Mozdok Suicide Bomb Attack RFE/RL 06 Aug 2003 -- Russia's judiciary today said they had detained three suspects in the suicide car bombing that killed 50 people in the North Ossetian city of Mozdok last week.
  • RUSSIA / UZBEKISTAN VOA 06 Aug 2003 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Islam Karimov have announced they will increase cooperation in the oil and gas industries. The pledge came during the Russian leader's first visit to the region since Russian-Uzbek relations became strained over Uzbekistan's support for some U-S policies that Russia opposes.
  • MALAYSIA PUTIN VOA 05 Aug 2003 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Malaysia to cement an arms deal with the Malaysian government and further trade ties with Kuala Lumpur.
  • RUSSIA/ BLAST VOA 04 Aug 2003 -- People in the Southern Russian city of Mozdok, near the Chechnya border, observed a day of mourning Monday for the 50 people killed in the bombing of a military hospital on Friday. Rescue workers have called off the search for both survivors and victims in the rubble.
  • Russia: Death Toll Rises To 50 In Bombing As Rescue Efforts End RFE/L 03 Aug 2003 -- Rescuers pulled the 50th body out of the rubble of a Russian military hospital in North Ossetia overnight, and called off efforts to find any survivors of the suicide attack.
  • RUSSIA/BLAST VOA 02 Aug 2003 -- The death toll continues to rise at the site of a military hospital in southern Russia that was destroyed in a suicide bombing late Friday. At least 35 people are reported to have died in the blast, which is being blamed on Chechen rebels.
  • Russia: Rescue And Recovery Efforts Continue After North Ossetia Bomb Attack RFE/L 02 Aug 2003 -- Rescue workers are searching for survivors this morning at a Russian military hospital in the southern republic of North Ossetia following an explosion believed to have been caused by a truck bombing.
  • Russia: Truck-Bomb Attack Kills At Least 35 In Ossetia RFE/L 02 Aug 2003 -- A vehicle packed with explosives blew up a Russian military hospital in the southern republic of North Ossetia yesterday, killing at least 35 people and wounding another 150.
  • U.S. Statement on Terrorist Act on Russian Hospital Washington File 01 Aug 2003 -- The United States extends sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims of the August 1 terrorist attack on a hospital in Mozdok, a town in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, the White House said in the following statement
  • Russia: Truck-Bomb Attack Kills At Least 20 In Ossetia RFE/L 01 Aug 2003 -- A vehicle packed with explosives has blown up a Russian military hospital in the southern republic of North Ossetia, killing at least 20 people and wounding many others.
  • RUSSIA / EXPLOSION VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- At least 20 people are dead and scores (dozens) more injured after a powerful truck bomb exploded outside a Russian military hospital in North Ossetia, bordering break-away Chechnya. It was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on Russian targets in recent months



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