According to researchers from Forrester Research, by 2003, a third European residents (219 million people) will have access to the Internet via mobile phones, reports NUA Internet Surveys. Currently Currently, about 120 million Europeans use mobile phones.

Immediately after the elections, St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev said The block "Fatherland - All Russia" was created for elections specifically to the Duma and, in fact, should exist only until December 20th. The further fate of the block will be be decided through consultations with representatives of the Fatherland movement and “All Russia”, and time will tell. Vladimir Yakovlev conveys these words with reference to the head of the press service of the governor of St.

Units of the eastern group of federal forces in the North Caucasus continue operations to block the borders of Chechnya with Georgia and Azerbaijan. As Interfax reports, citing the group's temporary press center, they captured strategic heights in the Shatoi region of Chechnya and blocked two roads connecting Chechnya with these countries. The press center also has information that a so-called “Dagestan” group of militants is concentrating on the border with Dagestan.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze virtually confirmed at a press conference on Monday that a representative office of Chechnya operates in the country. He also stated that Russia knows about this. “And this circumstance does not cause any particular irritation,” Shevardnadze noted.

Since 2000, the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs will begin deporting Ukrainian and Russian citizens working here illegally from the country. Czech Minister of Internal Affairs Vaclav Grulich told RIA Novosti journalists about this on December 20. Illegal immigrants will be sent from the Czech Republic to their homeland in special passenger trains, accompanied by police, the minister noted.

Five Russian special services - the Federal Security Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information and the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President are celebrating Security Worker Day today. This holiday has been called this way since December 1995, when it was officially introduced by decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

As votes are counted in the State Duma elections, new comments on the voting results appear. The leaders of the race declare their victory, the losers look for excuses for defeat, and election technology specialists evaluate the work done. Participants and observers share their thoughts on the balance of power in the new parliament. As opinions are received, they will appear at Lenta.Ru/vybory/1999/12/20/commentary/ .

Last Sunday at 23:00 Moscow time, voting ended in the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation and local authorities. Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission continues to receive reports of violations recorded during the voting on December 19. Let us remind you that if serious violations are discovered, the voting results may be canceled and the election results declared invalid.

The LDPR candidate Nikolai Kuznetsov, who lost the elections to the State Duma in the St. Petersburg 212th single-mandate constituency, caused a riot at the headquarters of the winner - Yabloko candidate Sergei Popov. As Popov himself, who received about 25 percent of the votes in his constituency, said, Kuznetsov burst into the headquarters at about 6 a.m.

On Monday morning, the former commander of one of the corps of the Sreb army, General Galic, was captured by soldiers of the Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Three SFOR vehicles blocked Galich's car, broke the windows, removed the general and took him away in an unknown direction. During the arrest, Galich received minor injuries, RIA Novosti reports. The general's arrest was officially confirmed by the command of the southwestern sector of the SFOR.

Chechen militants made an unsuccessful attempt on Monday to break through the encirclement of federal troops around Grozny and leave the city. As Interfax reports, citing the headquarters of the Russian group in the North Caucasus, 250-300 extremists tried to leave the Chechen capital. However, having encountered organized resistance, the militants were forced to return to Grozny.

The states of the European Union have developed a draft registration of a separate .EU domain for all of Europe, Wired News reports. Companies operating within one European country naturally have domain name in the geographical area of ​​a given country (.fr in France, .de in Germany, etc.). According to experts, for those companies whose sphere activities extend to the whole of Western Europe, domain name, containing a country-specific suffix can be extremely harmful.

According to reliable military sources, the operation to liberate Grozny will begin on December 22-24, RIA Novosti reports. At the same time, the sources once again emphasized that there is no talk of any assault on the city. The liberation of Grozny, according to them, is planned to be carried out by military special forces units, SOBR, as well as Chechen police units under the command of the former mayor of Grozny, Bislan Gantamirov.

Already on Monday morning, even before the end of the vote count, the movements that had overcome the five percent threshold began negotiations on the distribution of posts in the new State Duma. The leader of the Communist Party faction, Gennady Zyuganov, stated this at a press conference in the State Duma.

The Russian foreign exchange market reacts to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held on December 19, 1999 by strengthening the ruble exchange rate against the US dollar, Interfax reports. Quotes of the American currency at the market opening on Monday were 3-4 kopecks lower than on the previous trading day, amounting to 26.72-26.73 rubles per dollar.