Latest North Caucasus Weekly Articles
Policemen and a Senior Rebel Killed in Chechnya
Newsru.com reported on September 6 that four policemen in Chechnya were killed in two separate shooting incidents. In one of the attacks, two Interior Ministry Internal Troops servicemen died after they were targeted first by a bomb blast and then by gunfire. There was no... MORE
…While Ingushetian and Federal Officials Say: “Crisis? What Crisis?”
The reaction of Ingushetia’s leadership to the worsening security situation in the republic has displayed what might euphemistically be called an unwillingness to face reality. Newsru.com on September 3 reported that during a press conference in Moscow, Ingush President Murat Zyazikov accused the Russian media... MORE
Commentators See Ingushetia as a “Failed State” Where an Uprising Could Occur…
The incident in Karabulak “might have ended in a shootout” between local law-enforcers and the FSB commandos who killed Apti Dolakov and detained Iles Dolgiev “had Ingush Interior Minister Musa Medov not ordered that the killers be released,” wrote commentator Yulia Latynina in a column... MORE
Ingushetia Takes Chechnya’s Place as the North Caucasus Hot Spot
Developments in Ingushetia over the last several weeks have added to its growing reputation as the new “goryachaya tochka,” or hot spot, in the North Caucasus. Three Russian Interior Ministry troops were wounded on the evening of September 4 when unidentified attackers fired a grenade... MORE
The Challenges of the Sochi Olympics and Russia’s Circassian Problem
Although it has been a month since the Russian city of Sochi was awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics, the euphoria generated by this event in Russia has yet to subside. Both the state-run Russian media and the few relatively independent media sources have set aside... MORE
Ramzan Visits Saudi Arabia
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov made an official visit to Saudi Arabia, and on August 14 joined Saudi King Abdullah II in the traditional ceremony of the washing of the Kaaba in Mecca. Interfax reported on August 15 that Kadyrov first had a meeting with King... MORE
Who Bombed the Nevsky Express?
A person claiming to belong to the Chechen extremist group Riyadus-Salikhin (Gardens of the Righteous) called the North Caucasus Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to claim responsibility for the bomb explosion that derailed the Nevsky Express passenger train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg... MORE
Rebels Respond to Kadyrov’s Threats with a Village Raid
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov vowed on August 3 that the republic’s rebels would be completely destroyed by the end of the year. “I responsibly declare that in the time remaining before the end of the year the problem of the remnants of the illegal armed... MORE
Dokka Umarov Starts to Show His Teeth
The past month has undoubtedly been one of Dokka Umarov’s fiercest and most productive since he assumed command of the resistance movement. Day after day in July and early August, reports from the North Caucasus have been reminiscent of a chronicle of war. There is... MORE