
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990                   TAG: 9006120496
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Short

RUSSIA PROCLAIMS SOVEREIGNTY

The vast Russian republic proclaimed its sovereignty today with a declaration that signaled a sharp break with the central Soviet government but carried no legal force.

Deputies of the Russian Congress, who overwhelmingly approved the declaration, stressed that the move does not amount to a declaration of independence like that of the breakaway Baltic republic of Lithuania.

"We didn't declare ourselves a separate government from the U.S.S.R.," said Ruslan Khasbulatov, the Congress' deputy chairman. "We think our Russian fate should be within the framework of the U.S.S.R."

by CNB