Latest North Caucasus Weekly Articles
Medvedev Confirms, Ustinov Accepts, Kozak and the Military Speak the Sobering Truth
Three notable events last week became a final brushstroke in the picture of Chechnya’s immediate future envisaged by those directing the actions of the Chechen government by proxy from Moscow. The old question of what will become of Chechnya after the end of former President... MORE
Further Violence between Chechen Police and Vostok Battalion Reported
During a May 31 meeting with members of Chechnya’s government and the heads of the republic’s district administrations, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that criminal cases have been launched not only against Badrudi Yamadaev, the member of the Vostok battalion of the Russian Defense Ministry's... MORE
Putin Emphasizes Progress in Chechnya
In his May 31 interview with Le Monde, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin not only expressed no regrets about the way the Moscow theater siege and Beslan hostage crisis were handled, but spoke about the situation in Chechnya and the North Caucasus more generally. Here, too,... MORE
Ingushetia’s Opposition Set to Hold “Decisive” Protest
Ingushetia’s opposition is set to hold what Newsru.com described as a “final and decisive” republic-wide protest in Nazran and other cities on May 6. The website reported on May 5 that the main demands of the protest are the freeing of political prisoners, the resignation... MORE
WILL ALKHANOV STEP DOWN ON FEBRUARY 10?
The rumors that Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov is imminently poised to replace Alu Alkhanov as the republic’s president intensified this past week (Chechnya Weekly, February 1 and January 25). The Caucasus Times, citing a source close to Kadyrov, reported on February 6 that Alkhanov... MORE
Attacks Reported in Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria
Unidentified gunmen fired on a car in which soldiers were traveling in the village of Verkhnie Achaluki in Ingushetia’s Malgobeksky district on May 29, killing two servicemen on the spot and wounding two others. One of the wounded servicemen later died in the hospital, bringing... MORE
Russia Admits Rebel Fighter Activity in Chechnya
Faced with recurring reports of assaults and assassinations in Grozny and the rest of Chechnya, Russian government officials are being forced to admit that rebel fighter operations have become a reality. As always, the leadership of Russia’s Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry attempts to explain... MORE
Another Confrontation Between Yamadaev’s and Kadyrov’s Forces Reported
A violent confrontation between members of the Vostok battalion, which operates under the federal Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and Chechen law-enforcement personnel reportedly took place on May 26. Kavkazky Uzel quoted an unnamed Chechen Interior Ministry officer who described what happened. “On the... MORE
Briefs
Kadyrov Named to State Council’s Presidium President Dmitry Medvedev has named Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov a member of the presidium of the State Council, the presidential advisory body created by Vladimir Putin in 2000, Kavkazky Uzel reported on May 28. According to the Russian president’s... MORE
New Presidential Envoy Visits Chechnya
Vladimir Ustinov, the new presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, arrived May 28 in Chechnya on an official visit, Kavkazky Uzel reported. According to the press service of the Chechen president and government, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov accompanied Ustinov to the Kadyrovs’ native village,... MORE