Experiments on airborne forces are completed For the first time in the last quarter of a century, units and formations of the Russian Airborne Forces gathered at permanent deployment points in the country. Since the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979, the paratroopers have never been in their homeland all together - they invariably fought in hot spots. And of course, in Chechnya.

Smolny accused RAO UES of “anti-state policy” At yesterday's meeting of the board of directors of Lenenergo, a very strong conflict broke out between governor Valentina Matvienko and member of the board of RAO UES of Russia, chairman of the board of the St. Petersburg energy company, Mikhail Abyzov.

On January 28, 2005, issue No. 13 of the Vremya Novostey newspaper published the material “A City Without Khabarov,” in which a distortion of facts was made.

The State Duma is ready to return the word “confiscation” to the Criminal Code State Duma deputies are ready to return to law enforcement agencies such an “irreparable loss” in their repressive tools as confiscation of property, even despite the government’s objections. They believe that today criminals, corrupt officials and tax evaders can commit crimes without fear of losing their loot.

Ukrainian minister is in conflict with the government Yesterday, the new “orange” government in Kyiv lost one of the ministers of the cabinet formed just two weeks ago. 51-year-old Justice Minister Roman Zvarich submitted his resignation. According to him, he did this as a sign of protest. Some Rada deputies, “who have very powerful positions in the oil refining sector,” Mr. Zvarich said, tried to directly “interfere in the work” of his ministry.

Shakhtar and Dnepr, having lost, managed to win back Of the eight matches of the 1/16 UEFA Cup scheduled for Wednesday, only seven took place. The meeting between Austria Vienna and Athletic Bilbao was postponed due to difficult weather conditions. Even the fans helped clear the snow from the field at the stadium in Vienna, but the match referee still canceled the game. Other teams also had to fight the elements.

Collective security in the region remains an illusion The countries of the Caspian region include not only the five coastal states - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan, but also Armenia, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

The Ukrainian court approved the nationalization of Krivorozhstal The district court of Kyiv yesterday reversed its decision to recognize the privatization of Krivorozhstal as complying with the law. In fact, this is enough to return the enterprise to state ownership. The current owners - Donetsk oligarch Rinat Akhmetov and Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk - intend to challenge the court verdict.

Testimony in court will be financed by the loser The Ministry of Justice is trying to speed up the consideration of non-criminal cases in courts and encourage the interest of Russians in fulfilling their civic duty. Yesterday, the head of this department, Yuri Chaika, proposed to his cabinet colleagues to introduce amendments to the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) to the State Duma.

Mironova was not taken to the World Championships Today, the next world championship in bobsleigh and skeleton, which is held every year except the Olympic seasons, starts on the track in Calgary (Canada). On Friday and Saturday there will be races for men's two-man crews, the next two days will be given to skeletonists - masters of sledding upside down.

The IMF noted the “weakening” of the Russian investment climate The International Monetary Fund mission, which worked in Moscow as part of the preparation of its annual report on the state of the Russian economy, shared its findings with the public yesterday. It turned out that the only thing that IMF experts found good was the Central Bank's success in creating a deposit insurance system and strengthening banking supervision.

FIRST FEBRUARY 21 , MONDAY 6.00 Good morning 9.00, 12.00, 15.00, 18.00 News 9.20 “THE STORY OF ETERNAL LOVE.” Comedy (S) 11.40 Disney Club 12.20 “WOMEN IN LOVE.” Series 13.10 “I told a lie ONCE...”. Hood. movie 15.20 “BIRTHDAY OF THE BURGEOUS 2”. Series 16.20 Five evenings 17.30, 18.10 “TWO FATES”. Series 18.40 “CLONE”. Series 19.40 Wait for me 21.00 Time 21.30 “CAVALIERS OF THE STARFISH.” Series 22.40 Special forces 23.30 Night “Time” 23.50 Seekers 0.20 “Beauty from under a scalpel.” Doc.

On the eve of today's working visit to Georgia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paid an official visit to Armenia. There he met with President Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and his colleague Vartan Oskanian. In Yerevan, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, as previously agreed in the protocol, laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

The new generation of artificial diamonds cannot be distinguished from natural ones In the coming years, the world may be facing a reassessment of basic values. Science has finally been able to create what alchemists have dreamed of for many centuries - artificial diamonds, practically indistinguishable from real ones. And although only the first synthetic stones have appeared on the market, the diamond industry has sounded the alarm.

The group “Earth, Wind & Fire” will perform in Moscow and St. Petersburg Musical idols of the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century in Russia were a sensation ten years ago, but now they have ceased to be a rarity. Monsters of rock and pop music from Deep Purple to Nazareth roam the hospitable spaces, confirming the thesis about the benefits of touring old celebrities: their potential audience is more creditworthy than the youth (the supposed “contingent” of Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne).