Word: chechnya
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Vladimir Putin may be the man to beat in Russia's presidential election, but first he must get through the Chechnya primary. Russia's parliament on Wednesday scheduled the election to choose Boris Yeltsin's successor for March 26, and the results of December's parliamentary elections suggest that acting president Putin has a commanding lead over his likely rivals - former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and ultra-nationalist fringe candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky. But although Russia's campaign in Chechnya has propelled Putin from obscurity to presidential front-runner, setbacks on the military front could hurt...
...very angry friends. Four rocket-propelled grenades slammed into the Russian embassy in downtown Beirut, Monday, killing two policemen and recalling that city's heyday as the mayhem capital of the Middle East. The attacks followed weeks of protest by local Islamic militants against Russia's military campaign in Chechnya, which the U.S. warned Sunday could become an albatross around the neck of acting President Vladimir Putin if he's unable to find an exit strategy...
...slowed Moscow's momentum and raised the specter of heavy Russian casualties. That could pose a problem for Putin's bid to win the presidency in elections that have been brought forward to March by Boris Yeltsin's resignation. "Putin's people know that as much as the Chechnya campaign has sent his popularity rocketing among Russian voters, it could fall just as quickly if the war appears to be going badly," says TIME Moscow correspondent Andrew Meier. "After all, Chechnya has been Putin's only political calling card. If enthusiasm for the war wanes, Russians may be left asking...
...possible to tease some hopeful signs from the ice-head's resume. Though he has let the military manage the war in Chechnya, for instance, U.S. officials say Putin, unlike Yeltsin, seems to be ultimately in control. Visiting U.S. officials like Attorney General Janet Reno have been impressed that Putin realizes corruption poses a major threat to the creation of a market economy in Russia. If this is so, Putin is in for a struggle. The fight against corruption could turn out to be the defining theme of a Putin presidency. The fact remains that his ascent to power...
There is also much blood in Yeltsin's legacy. Thousands of dead--in Chechnya, in the Russian parliament's revolt in October 1993 and in other smaller conflicts. The destruction of the Russian parliament was in many ways the turning point in his presidency. As rebels moved across Moscow, meeting little resistance, close aides went to his office to ask for instructions. They found Yeltsin sitting in a darkened room, seemingly paralyzed by depression or despair. After the parliament's revolt was crushed, Boris the populist disappeared. The man who had once expressed near physical revulsion at the luxury (very...