Igor

Igor Berenshteyn came to Baltimore 18 months ago from his native Russia to make a new life for himself. Last week the 23-year-old's efforts were abruptly cut short by a gunman's bullet during a robbery attempt as Mr. Berenshteyn was trying to make a delivery for a pizza company in Pimlico.It is always tragic when a life is snuffed out, and doubly so when that life seems as full of youthful promise as was Mr. Berenshteyn's. The irony is only compounded by the fact that Mr. Berenshteyn, like countless immigrants before him, had determined to discover opportunity in America, yet found instead only a premature and senseless death.

IN TIME, most Russians will forgive President Vladimir Putin's indecisiveness in handling the Arctic nuclear submarine disaster that killed 118. Didn't Stalin, after all, go into such a shock following Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union that nothing was heard from him for days? In the end, though, Mr. Putin can fully repair his reputation only if he realizes that in a democracy, people must be told the truth, however bitter it might be, and that official lies, tardiness and obfuscation cannot be tolerated.

Lindsay Grigoriev seemingly never spins out of control, and she certainly rarely stands still. But earlier this month, that's exactly what was going on. The senior from Atholton High in Columbia was just a week removed from setting a record in the discus at the prestigious Penn Relays for the second year in a row, but she found herself facing the prospect of failing to make the final in the same event at a local track and field meet. At the Gator Invitational at Reservoir High in Fulton on May 3, Grigoriev had fouled on her first two attempts, spinning out of the circle.

Chances are few teams throughout professional hockey this season have started a game in more ragged fashion than the Kentucky Thoroughblades did yesterday. The old line about a team showing up at 1: 30 for a game getting under way at 1 o'clock fit the situation.Kentucky recovered from a couple of two-goal deficits and posted a 6-4 victory by holding the Bandits scoreless over the last half of the game.The Bandits got a goal in the first minute and another at 3: 04, but it was what they didn't do when the opportunity presented itself that was noteworthy.

MOSCOW -- Flying into Yugoslavia today in hopes of finding a means to halt the NATO airstrikes, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov is trying to resuscitate Russian influence in the Balkans and just maybe pull off a diplomatic coup.Expectations here are low, but after Moscow's failure last week to prevent the NATO attack, Primakov has little to lose by trying."Everyone understands his mission is almost impossible," Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Polity Foundation, said yesterday.If a solution eludes Primakov today, Nikonov said, "it cannot be regarded as a failure of Russian diplomacy."

After three years in the United States, Nicholas and Irina Zamoroko do not see any tarnish on their American dream.They and their son, Igor, arrived here on Dec. 30, 1990, with just their suitcases after leaving Kiev for political reasons. In Kiev, Mr. Zamoroko played piano and did arrangements for the National Concert Orchestra of Ukraine and taught music at Kiev State College.Earlier that year, Mr. Zamoroko had been awarded the title of National Artist of Ukraine. He left while studying for his doctorate.

Bobby Wren is a tough little battler who would probably rather have four molars yanked out in one session with a dentist than sit and watch a hockey game from the bench.So yesterday, when he got a chance to take a regular shift against Syracuse from the first period on, he was happy but not so happy.The opening arrived for Wren when teammate Valeri Karpov was hit in the face by a tumbling player's skate, resulting in gashes requiring 70 stitches, and he certainly didn't want to get his chance that way.But, with opportunity knocking, Wren was there to answer.

A 911 tape released yesterday provided few clues as to what happened in a fatal firetruck accident Sunday morning in Northwest Baltimore. "Engine 29 urgent," says a firefighter's voice on the tape. "Truck 27's been involved in a serious accident. We have a rescue at the intersection of Clarks and Park Heights Avenue. Dispatch another engine on the assignment and pull me out of service on that call." Later in the tape, a man says, "I've got two people trapped at the intersection with me at Clarks and Park Heights Avenue with a rescue squad up the street available."

Until the bank called that day in 1995, Kurt Jakobson figured Igor Fyodorov was just talking big.A former Environmental Protection Agency engineer who ran a tax-preparation business from his Pikesville home, Jakobson had helped the Russian immigrant with the intricacies of American taxes and corporate charters. He dismissed as so much hot air Fyodorov's assurances that lucrative deals were just around the corner.Then Jakobson's Ellicott City bank phoned."They said, '$2 million just arrived in your account,' " Jakobson recalls.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen will meet with top Russian officials in Helsinki, Finland, this week to try to end an embarrassing standoff between NATO and Russian troops at the Pristina airport in Kosovo.Four days after 200 Russian troops stunned the West by moving into Kosovo without an agreement with NATO, their presence in what was supposed to be the alliance headquarters in Pristina continued to preoccupy the highest levels of government in Washington and Moscow.