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17 May 2008

Vladimir Ustinov Named Presidential Envoy to the Southern Federal District

05/16/2008 - President Dmitry Medvedev has named Vladimir Ustinov, who previously held the post of Justice Minister, to be presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, replacing Grigory Rapota, who has been switched to the post of presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District. Ustinov is widely viewed as a member of the hardline faction of Kremlin "siloviki" - his son Dmitry is married to Inga Sechina, a daughter of Igor Sechin, the reputed de facto "siloviki" chief who was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of industrial and energy policy in the latest round of appointments.




Is Aushev Planning a Political Comeback?

By Mairbek Vatchagaev

05/16/2008 - When the Ingush public found themselves at a crossroads in 1991 after their Chechen neighbors announced secession from Russia, they decided that following the Chechen example may lead to the irreversible loss of lands in the environs of the Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz that were originally annexed during the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples in 1944. The Ingush opted for a different path and announced the re-establishment of the Republic of Ingushetia (initially formed in 1918 and merged with Chechnya in 1934.) By transferring ancestral Ingush lands to North Ossetia-Alania and resettling the Ingush alongside the traditionally pro-Moscow Ossetians, the Russian government thought its security at the main Trans-Caucasus artery would be guaranteed. Essentially, the Ingush were moved further away from a strategically important road because of their closeness to the Chechens, that is, Russia attempted to protect itself from potential excesses from their side.

Current Issue

Kadyrov Keeps the Heat on the Yamadaevs

By Andrei Smirnov

05/16/2008 - In what appears to be an ongoing campaign by Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration against the Vostok Battalion of the GRU (Russian military intelligence), investigators with the republic's law-enforcement bodies are looking into the battalion's possible involvement in the murder of the Arsamakov brothers (Chechnya Weekly, April 17 and 24; May 1). Kavkazky Uzel on May 8 quoted a Chechen law-enforcement source as saying that investigators who are looking into the Vostok Battalion's activities have information about the possible involvement of battalion members in the kidnapping and subsequent brutal murder of Yusup and Yunus Arsamakov and their driver, who disappeared in early February of 2007.