Nine hundred editions of a weekly publication cover a huge period in the history of the Soviet Union and Russia. Like every family, every city, like the entire country, the newspaper experienced all the frightening moments, as well as all the bright and romantic days of Russia's history. Arguing with one's parents is absurd, but as you look at the 900th edition of MN, it's equally absurd to argue with the people who put out the first, the hundredth, or the 500th issue of a paper that, like so many things in life, appeared by a strange combination of circumstances - in 1930 it started coming out in English, as a newspaper for Americans working in Moscow.

Moskovskiye Novosti - a newspaper that has employed foreigners, and a newspaper for foreigners - has experienced the horror of Stalin's repressions like almost no other publication in the country. Suffice it to say that out of five editorial board members from the mid-1930s, four were arrested and executed: Mikhail Borodin, N. Osinsky, Mikhail Koltsov and V. Mezhlauk.

Today we would like to remember everyone who has ever worked or written for Moskovskiye Novosti, or who has been a hero of our publications over the past years. We must admit that we do not have a very complete knowledge of the history of our own paper, and we will be very grateful to anyone who can help fill it with memories, photographs or documents.

Beginning with this issue we will feature a new rubric called MN-1000. In it we will return to the people, addresses and authors who have contributed to the paper throughout its entire history. MN-1000 is a story about how fates unfolded at the turn of the century. We've been promised some interesting documents by archivists and about the history of MN.