Latest North Caucasus Weekly Articles
Peacekeepers or Provocateurs? Kremlin-Backed Chechen Troops Raise Tensions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
The unannounced and surprising arrival of pro-Russian Chechen military units as “peacekeepers” in Georgia’s separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has sparked widespread speculation as to the reason behind their deployment. Their appearance coincided with violent protests in the Georgian capital of Tblisi against... MORE
Briefs
- Journalist Beaten in Ingushetia A journalist who works in Ingushetia for the Russian weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty was severely beaten on November 25, just a day after police violently broke up an opposition demonstration in Nazran, Kavkazky Uzel reported on December 6. Svetlana... MORE
Policemen Targeted in Kabardino-Balkaria
Interfax reported on December 5 that a police captain was murdered in Kabardino-Balkaria. The incident took place in the village of Stary Cherek, in the republic’s Urvan district. An Urvan district law-enforcement source told the news agency that unidentified gunmen came to the home of... MORE
Briefs
- Strasbourg Court Finds Russia Culpable in Murder of Chechen Policeman The European Court of Human Rights ruled on November 15 that Russia was responsible for the murder of Aslanbek Kukaev, a policeman with the police department of Grozny’s Staropromyslovsky district, in the Chechen capital... MORE
Astemirov Takes Credit for Idea of Caucasian Emirate
Last week, Chechen rebel leader Dokka Umarov finally confirmed his decision to declare a Caucasian Emirate (Chechnya Weekly, November 1 and 8). His statement on the Emirate was posted on the Kavkaz-Center rebel website on November 21. Moreover, two days later, Kavkaz-Center posted two videos... MORE
Poll Finds Grozny Residents Fear a New War
A poll conducted by the Caucasus Times news agency among 400 residents of the Chechen capital Grozny over November 5-11 found that 39 percent of the respondents think a new war in the republic is possible and 18 percent believe it is “quite possible," the... MORE
Regional Violence Continues Despite Pre-Election Heightened Security
Nezavisimaya Gazeta on November 29 quoted Yakov Nedobitko, commander of Unified Group of Forces conducting Russia's "counter-terrorist" operation in the North Caucasus, as saying that on the eve of the State Duma elections, set for December 2, security had been heightened in practically all the... MORE
Rights Groups Condemn Nazran Violence
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued statements condemning the abduction of the three REN-TV reporters and Memorial’s Oleg Orlov in Nazran, Agence France-Presse reported on November 24. “This horrific crime has a clear political motive to silence independent voices. More reporting is needed from... MORE
Protesters, Journalists, Rights Activists Beaten and Detained in Nazran
OMON (Russian Special Purpose Police Squad) riot police broke up a demonstration against the administration of Ingushetia’s President, Murat Zyazikov, in Nazran on November 24. The organizing committee for the protest, which was planned for November 24, had earlier announced that it would be postponed... MORE