Latest North Caucasus Weekly Articles
Rebels Call on Caucasus Not to Support Russia in its War with Georgia
The Russian-Georgian conflict over control of the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has become an international crisis. The United States, the European Union, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are now involved in the conflict in various ways, in addition to Russia and... MORE
Moscow City Court Upholds Closure of Ingushetiya.ru
The Moscow City Court on August 12 upheld a lower court ruling ordering the closure of Ingushetiya.ru. In June, Moscow’s Kuntsevsky District Court ordered that the opposition website be shut down for publishing extremist statements, but the website continued to operate while the Moscow City... MORE
Kadyrov Holds Forth on the Yamadaevs and the Russian-Georgian War
In an interview with RIA Novosti published on August 8, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov insisted that there is no personal conflict between him and the Yamadaev brothers—Sulim and Badruddi—but simply that the law must be upheld. “When a person serving a sentence in a prison... MORE
Wanted Chechen Commander Leads his Battalion against Georgian Forces
Kavkazky Uzel reported on August 13 that members of the Chechen-manned Vostok battalion of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) were among the Russian forces that invaded Georgia. According to the website, the Vostok fighters were located in area of the Georgian town... MORE
Rebels Move Closer to Seizing Control of Ingushetia
Last week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed the Russian government’s concern about the situation in Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia. The Ministry said on August 3 that the threat of an all-out war there was becoming "increasingly real," and late on August 6 a Russian... MORE
Ingushetiya.ru Editor Flees Abroad
Roza Malsagova, the editor of the opposition Ingushetiya.ru website, has left Russia and plans to ask for political asylum abroad. Ekho Moskvy radio on August 6 quoted her lawyer, Kaloi Akhilgov, as saying that Malsagova left Russia with her three children around two weeks ago... MORE
Russia Chagrined by U.S. Attempts to Court Russian Muslim Clerics
The U.S. Department of State has found itself in an awkward position. The invitation to visit the United States that it extended to Russia’s muftis under the auspices of “Islam in the USA” program was unanimously declined by all the invitees, who expressed views that... MORE
Briefs
Newspaper Closed in Dagestan The federal Prosecutor General’s Office announced in August 6 that the Chernovik newspaper in Dagestan had been closed down for spreading extremist views. Reuters quoted the office as saying in a statement that Chernovik had had glorified rebels and insulted Russian... MORE
Chechen Kidnapping Victim Kidnapped Again
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on August 6 that Mokhmadsalakh Masaev, a 42-year-old resident of Chechnya who made public his secret detention and torture by Chechen security agents, was abducted again. Citing Masaev’s relatives and the Memorial human rights group, Human Rights Watch reported that... MORE