Stricken ship to be towed by rescue boat to Vladivostok.

VLADIVOSTOK, February 2 (Itar-Tass) - The Mongolia-flagged stricken
motorship Real is to be towed here on Tuesday by the Russian rescue boat
Naporisty. The motorship is carrying a 200-tonne cargo of automobiles.
The dry cargo ship suffered a breadkdown in the engine room 90 miles
from Nakhodka on January 29 when it was on its way from Japan to the
Primorsky (maritime) Territory. The ship lost its way and found itself in
the grip of storm wind and waves.
The rescue boat Naporisty was sent out to the distress area in aid to
theReal on January 31. The rescue boat is to tow the stricken ship to
Vladivostok on Tuesday afternoon, said an official at the
Vladivostok-based sea rescue coordinating center.
The dry cargo ship Real has a deadweight of 2,230 tonnes. The ship was
built in 1971 at the shipyard of the Ukrainian city of Nikolayev. The
ship's crew has 19 members, all are citizens of Russia. The Seoul-based
Korean Uni Marine Cmpany is the operator of the Real.
Meanwhile the factory ship Vsevolod Sibirtsev has been also suffering
from a major breakdown in the engine room since January 29. The ship lies
at anchor off the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula and its safety
is being ensured by the rescue boat Spravedlivy. The factory ship is
awaiting the arrival of a damage control team from Vladivostok.
The ship is owned by the Preobrazhnskaya base of trawler and
refiregerating fleet (Primorsky Territory). The deadweight of the factory
ship is10,200 tonnes. The ship was built in 1989 in Finland. The crew has
several hundreds of members.

.Ukraine parliament to go into session Tuesday.

KIEV, February 2 (Itar-Tass) - A spring-time session of Ukraine's
Verkhovna Rada (parliament) begins here on Tuesday. Its calendar plan has
been drawn up for months ahead, till July 9, inclusive, if by that time
the parliament is not dissolved for the holding of an early parliamentary
election.
Parliament Speaker Vladimir Litvin said the MPs plan to consider over
1,500 items. He said, "This is the largest package of agenda items in the
entire history of Ukrainian parliamentarism". Tuesday's agenda of the
session includes mainly organizational and personnel policy matters.
The future of the Verkhovna Rada after the presidential elections
depends on whether a new Head of State manages to form a ruling coalition
in it. If this does not happen, an early parliamentary election will be
held at the end of May along with elections to the local councils.

.Int'l Victory Relay-Race sets out from Grodno Tuesday.

MINSK, February 2 (Itar-Tass) - An international relay race in honour
of the 65th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great
Patriotic War of 1941-1945 sets out from the Belarussian city of Grodno on
Tuesday.
This international relay race is to begin at the memorial ensemble
erected in memory of the Byelorussian Border District servicemen who died
on the first days of the Nazi troops' invasion of the Soviet Union.
A decision to hold the relay race was taken by the Council of the
Commanders of Border Guarding Agencies of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) member-countries.
An official at the Belarus State Border Committee has told Itar-Tass,
"The Victory Relay-Race will set out from here and will proceed along the
borders of the republic: the relay's symbol -- a challenge cup -- will be
carried across sectors of the Grodno, Smorgon, Gomel, and Brest border
groups, as well as Lida, Pinsk, and Polotsk border detachments. Ceremonial
meetings, lessons of courage, and patriotic song concerts will be arranged
along the route.
Ukraine is to take up the relay torch at the Brest Hero Fortress
memorial complex on February 18. The relay will then proceed to Moldova,
across the territories of Russia and Armenia, and will end on Poklonnaya
Hill in Moscow on May 28.
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