Latest North Caucasus Weekly Articles
Briefs
Six Wounded in Kabardino-Balkaria Attack Six people in the city of Tyrnyauz in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, among them four law-enforcement officers, were injured on June 22 when unidentified gunmen shot up an apartment in the city and tossed a grenade through its window. Newsru.com... MORE
Vostok and Zapad Battalions’ Staff will be Cut by 30 Percent
General Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Directorate for Combat Training and Service, told Krasnaya Zvezda that the Defense Ministry has decided to cut the size of its Chechen-manned battalions. In an interview posted June 24 on the military newspaper’s website, Redstar.ru,... MORE
Buinaksk Police Chief Murdered
Gunmen in Dagestan killed Colonel Magomedarip Aliev, chief of police of the town of Buinaksk, as he was driving through the republic’s capital Makhachkala on June 24. RIA Novosti quoted a source in the press service of Dagestan’s Interior Ministry as saying that unidentified gunmen... MORE
Counting Chechnya’s Rebel Fighters: Kadyrov’s Fuzzy Math
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has announced a total victory over separatist forces in Chechnya. Considering President Vladimir Putin proclamations several years ago that the rebels had been totally defeated as far back as 2001, Kadyrov’s statement comes across as less than completely truthful. Indeed, following... MORE
Zakaev’s Attempts to Persuade Dokka Umarov are in Vain
The developments surrounding the announcement of the Caucasus Emirate by the current leader of the Chechen resistance movement, Dokka Umarov, on November 7, 2007, forced all resistance members as well as those whose sympathies were with the rebels to face the fact that power has... MORE
Kadyrov Hosts Film Festival, Activists Detained for Photographing Suspect Facility
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on June 13 that his “favorite film” is the restoration of Chechnya’s economy, social sphere and culture now taking place. “I can state with certainty that I love to observe, day and night, the grandiose processes connected to the rebirth... MORE
Kadyrov’s Challenges: Rebels, Russian Generals, and the Yamadaev Brothers
“Ramzan Kadyrov, 31, has been Chechnya's leader for a year. During that time, he has managed to silence dissent, pacify the Russian republic and embark on a massive reconstruction campaign. His critics are hard to find, because they have a habit of disappearing.” So wrote... MORE
Briefs
Four Charged in Connection with Politkovskaya Murder Four men – three of them Chechens – have been charged in connection with the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. “Three suspects have been charged with the murder of the journalist: Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov,”... MORE
Attacks Reported in Ingushetia and Dagestan
A police officer was shot and seriously wounded on June 17 in the Ingushetian city of Karabulak. Itar-Tass, citing Ingushetia’s Interior Ministry, reported that Abuyazid Shovkhalov, a 29-year-old officer with the patrol-sentry service (PPS) of the republic’s Interior Ministry, was attacked while standing at a... MORE
Chechen Rebels Carry Out a Series of Attacks
Chechen rebels burned a Russian armored vehicle in the town of Bamut on June 16, the Associated Press reported on June 17. The news agency quoted the Chechen Interior Ministry as saying that a group of rebel fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades at the armored vehicle... MORE