"Balashikha" refers both to a town lying southeast of Moscow (AP 7 Dec. 2001) and to an administrative district in Moscow Oblast called Balashikhinskiy Raion (Rossiyskaya Gazeta 26 Nov. 2002).

Although the BBC referred to the Balashikha criminal group as being "well known" (7 Dec. 2001), the Research Directorate found very few other references to this group among sources consulted. Mentioned as one example of Moscow's neighbourhood criminal groups (Jensen Nov. 1999), the group was reportedly "pushed out" of the Balashikha district of Moscow in 1988 by Chechen criminal organizations (Jamestown Foundation Prism 22 Mar. 1996). Reports indicate, however, that on 4 December 2001 (NTI 7 Dec. 2001), seven individuals, alleged to be members of the Balashikha criminal group, were arrested by Russian authorities during an attempt to sell uranium (ibid.; BBC 7 Dec. 2001; AP 7 Dec. 2001; Time 10 Dec. 2001). The Nuclear Threat Institute (NTI), drawing from a 7 December 2001 Gazeta report, noted that six of those arrested were members of the Balashikha organized crime group, while the seventh individual charged was reportedly an undercover Federal Security Service (FSB) agent (7 Dec. 2001). Two other reports of this arrest, though mentioning the suspects' alleged connections with organized crime, did not identify the gang's name (RFE/RL 13 Dec. 2001; Le Monde 22 Dec. 2001). In addition, Le Monde reported a second case concerning the arrest in March 2001 of a criminal group in Balashikha while attempting to sell the radioactive material cesium-137 (ibid.). The Research Directorate found no further reports concerning either of these cases among sources consulted.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Associated Press (AP). 7 December 2001. "Uranium Bust? Russians Arrest Seven in Nuke Scheme." (ABC News) http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/uranium011207.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

BBC News. 7 December 2001. "Uranium Theft Raises Nuclear Fears." http://news.bbc.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1697907.stm [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

Le Monde [Paris, Internet version, in French]. 22 December 2001. Natalie Nougayrede. "Paris Daily Reporter on Lax Security for Radioactive Materials in Russia." (FBIS-WEU-2001-1222 22 Dec. 2001/WNC)

Jamestown Foundation Prism. 22 March 1996. Aleksandr Zhilin. "The Caucasian War: The Scene in Moscow." http://www.amber.ucsf.edu/~ross/russia_/chech3.txt [Accessed 9 Dec. 2002]

Jensen, Donald N. November 1999. "Conflict Studies Research Centre Analytical Paper E105. "The Boss: How Yury Luzhkov Runs Moscow." http://www.ppc.pims.org/Projects/CSRC/E105.htm [Accessed 9 Dec. 2002]

Nuclear Threat Institute (NTI). 7 December 2001. "Balashikha Organized Crime Group Members Arrested for Attempted Sale of Uranium-235." http://www.nti.org/db/nistraff/2001/20010640.htm [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 13 December 2001. Crime, Corruption and Terrorism Watch. Vol. 1, No. 7. "Seven Arrested Outside Moscow for Attempted Sale of Low-Grade Uranium." http://www.rferl.org/corruptionwatch/2001/12/7-131201.asp [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

Rossiyskaya Gazeta [Moscow, in Russian]. 26 November 2002. "Rossiyskaya Gazeta Says GRU, Police Officers Shot in Hostage Crisis." (FBIS-SOV-2002-1126 26 Nov. 2002/WNC)

Time [New York]. 10 December 2001. Jeffrey Kluger. "The Nuke Pipeline: The Trade in Nuclear Contraband is Approaching Critical Mass. Can We Turn Off the Spigot?" (CNN) http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2001/12/17/nuke.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

IRB Databases

Internet sites including:

AIF (Russian)

Criminal Russia

Forum (Russian)

Johnson's Russia List

Moscow Times

National Institute of Justice

Polit Monitor (Russian)

Pravda (English)

Pravda (Russian)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

World News Connection