Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Last Russian troops leave Poland.

Russian Constitutional Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rally outside.

An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkutsk, Russia, killing 125 people including one on the ground.

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.

Former Central Intelligence Agency counter-intelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia.

Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.

First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.

Space Exploration: Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle.

The Russian town of Neftegorsk is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that kills at least 2,000 people, half of the total population.

A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.

An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.

In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign The Ottawa treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.

A Russian Antonov An-124 transport cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.

Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.

Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.

The Russian ''Mir'' space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.

Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.

NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.

A Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops is hit by a Chechen missile outside of Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.

The Vitim event, a possible bolide impact in Siberia, Russia.

Moscow Theatre Siege: Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian Spetsnaz storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.

In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.

Eighty-nine passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions are caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.

The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.

Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board.

Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.

Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of all bombs.

Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as Russia's president.

Georgia launches a military offensive against South Ossetia to counter the alleged Russian invasion, starting the South Ossetia War.

Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

A car bomb in St. Petersburg, Russia, kills three people and injures one.