RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 1, No. 85, Part I, 31 July 1997

LEBED SLAMS MILITARY REFORM PLANS... Former Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed has charged that a "narrow circle" of officials who lack the expertise to deal with the problems of the Russian armed forces have made recent key decisions concerning military reform plans, RFE/RL's Moscow bureau reported on 30 July.

He named Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin, the highest-ranking civilian in the Defense Ministry, and Col.-Gen. Valerii Manilov, a senior officer at the General Staff, as two of the officials who drafted the plans. At the same time, Lebed called Defense Minister Igor Sergeev a "worthy and sensible person," according to the 31 July "Nezavisimaya gazeta." But he did criticize Duma Defense Committee Chairman Lev Rokhlin for not letting Lebed's Honor and Motherland movement join Rokhlin's new movement to support the military. Several influential Communists who have long criticized Lebed have already joined Rokhlin's movement.

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Johnson's Russia List

#1105

31 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org