Latest Developments
* THE REPUBLICS. Russia and Kazakhstan, the two biggest Soviet republics, agreed to respect their present common borders and work to prevent the “uncontrolled disintegration” of the nation. The pact is part of Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin’s attempt to allay fears of Russian expansionism and to keep the nation together in a looser federation.
* INDEPENDENCE. Azerbaijan declared its independence, the eighth Soviet republic to formally break from Moscow. The others are Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Ukraine, Moldova, Byelorussia and Georgia. The republics are home to about 80 million of the Soviet Union’s 287 million people.
* THE SPEAKER. Authorities arrested suspended legislature Speaker Anatoly I. Lukyanov, left, for his alleged role in the coup, the official news agency Tass reported. Legislators had voted to strip Lukyanov of his parliamentary immunity and to have him arrested and charged with treason.
* THE MILITARY. The new Soviet defense minister, Yevgeny I. Shaposhnikov, said the crumbling union must keep a united army but that the force eventually could be mostly volunteer.
* THE KGB: Vadim V. Bakatin, new KGB chairman, pledged to disband the secret police’s network of informants, end its snooping on political organizations and open many of its files.
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