An explosion in the Dagestani city of Buinaksk today (March 23) killed the imam of the city’s central mosque, Gitinomagomed Abdulgapurov, and his bodyguard, Magomedrasul Magomedov. The blast occurred around 6:00 a.m., local time, as the two were walking down the street. The Rosbalt news... MORE

In March 2012, Russian policy toward the Georgian breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the Moldovan breakaway territory of Transnistria, took another turn. On March 16, the outgoing president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev appointed the governor of Krasnodar region, Aleksandr Tkachev,... MORE

On March 16, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Aleksandr Tkachev as Special Representative of the Russian President for Abkhazia. On March 21, Medvedev appointed Teymuraz Mamsurov as Special Representative of the Russian President for South Ossetia. And also on March 21, Medvedev appointed Dmitry Rogozin as... MORE

On March 21, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Dmitry Rogozin as Special Representative of the Russian President for Transnistria (“po Pridnestrovyu”). Undoubtedly, Medvedev acted at the behest of the incoming president, Vladimir Putin. On that same date, Putin – in the final days of his... MORE

Opinion polls show that although the ruling Party of Regions (PRU) remains the most popular party, it may lose the parliamentary election scheduled for October 28 to the combined forces of the opposition. Economic growth has slowed considerably of late so the ruling party cannot... MORE

There has recently been a spate of news stories in Russia about the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami organization (Party of Liberation). This organization is on the Russian Supreme Court’s official list of terrorist organizations and thus its activities in the country are banned (www.rg.ru/2006/07/28/terror-organizacii.html). An international... MORE

The outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, chaired this week a session of the “expanded Collegium of the Defense Ministry” – a gathering of the nation’s entire top brass. Medvedev and Anatoly Serdyukov, Defense Minister since February 2007, both hailed the success of military reform that began... MORE

Of the two people – Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov, both 25, who were found guilty of carrying out the bombing in Minsk subway on April 11, 2011, killing 15 people and injuring 206 – there seemed to be a chance for a presidential pardon... MORE

On March 18, Russia’s Interior Ministry officially confirmed a massive relocation of ministry troops from Chechnya to Dagestan. The official reason given for the movement of the troops was to “stabilize” the situation in Dagestan. A temporary command was set up in Dagestan to coordinate... MORE

Russia has repeatedly pledged to expand trade with China, the Kremlin apparently continuing to view the commercial ties as an important indicator of what was officially described as a “bilateral strategic partnership.” The increasing bilateral trade reflects a successful development of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation, said... MORE