On August 10, members of NGO’s, rights activists, journalists and friends of Zarema Sadullaeva and Alik Dzhabrailov gathered for a small ceremony of remembrance in Grozny. Unidentified law enforcement members led Sadullaeva and Dzhabrailov out of their office in Grozny on August 10, 2009. The... MORE

On August 12, an apparent arson attack in Khuchada, a village in Dagestan’s Shamilsky district, sparked a fire in the home of the imam of the local mosque, killing him, his wife and their three children (www.newsru.com, August 12). On August 11, the first day... MORE

This past week brought little clarity as to whether Doku Umarov in fact resigned or not from his position as the leader of the North Caucasus rebels. It still remains unclear who suggested to Umarov that he cancel the announcement he himself had made earlier... MORE

In response to the thunderous and inconsequential pronouncements made by Russia’s power structures and top-ranking officials about the situation in the North Caucasus, rebel groups there have been striking Russian interests across the region as if to refute Russian claims. Over the past week, there... MORE

The Rosbalt news agency reported yesterday (July 29) that the Russian special services have killed at least 17 Chechen rebels, including rebel “leaders,” over the last seven months by poisoning their food. Noting that Russia’s special services reportedly carried out a successful operation to poison... MORE

On July 25, a large-scale fistfight broke out between Chechen youths and the local Russian population near Tuapse, a port town on the Black Sea in the Krasnodar region. Four hundred Chechen youths and children along with their older caretakers were on holiday in the... MORE

On July 21, a group of militants in Kabardino-Balkaria launched a bold attack on the Baksan hydroelectric plant, ransacked the facility and rendering it unusable after a series of explosions. Two policemen who were guarding the plant were killed in the raid. The attack drew... MORE

Attacks apparently carried out by insurgents and attacking infrastructure have been reported in Dagestan in the wake of the daring attack earlier this week on the Baksan hydropower station in Kabardino-Balkaria. Russian news agencies reported that an improvised explosive device (IED) went off today (July... MORE

Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat acquired a new leader this past week, six months after the death on the night of December 31, 2009 of the previous Emir al-Bar (aka Umalat Magomedov). Seifullah of Gubden (aka Magomed Vagapov), the emir of the Gubden Jamaat, has been chosen... MORE

On July 15, a meeting between Dagestan’s Vice Prime Minister, Rizvan Kurbanov, and the relatives of a detained bus driver prevented a possible regional scandal –the blockade of the highway connecting Russia and Azerbaijan. Relatives of Usman Garisov, who was arrested on drug possession and... MORE