Even though many decades have passed, the Second World War is still an unanswered question for the Chechen people, and this historical burden inevitably impacts the continuing development of Chechen society today. Though the current Russian government is eager to emphasize recent peaceful developments, the... MORE

The conflict between Chechen President Alu Alkhanov and Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov ended with a decisive victory for the latter on February 15, when President Vladimir Putin appointed Kadyrov as acting president of Chechnya and Alkhanov a deputy justice minister in the federal government.... MORE

Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov declared on February 10 that all rebel “armed formations” in the republic have been destroyed and that peace has arrived, Kavkazky Uzel reported on February 12. According to the website, Kadyrov said that the main credit for these achievements should... MORE

Two servicemen from the Russian Army’s 136th Motorized Infantry Brigade were killed and five were wounded in an ambush in Dagestan on February 10. Kommersant reported on February 12 that an explosion took place at around 7 p.m. on February 10 on the side of... MORE

There is no doubt that during the 43rd annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, a potential successor to Putin, attempted to demonstrate Russia’s resurging strength. While bragging about Russia’s rising power and its equal status with... MORE

Three Russian men pressed a pistol muzzle against the back of Murat Berzegov’s head. Earlier that evening, they had abducted the leader of the Circassian National Movement of Adygea right in front of his house. “We’re veterans of the security services, professionals and Russian patriots,”... MORE

Three police officers were killed in Dagestan on February 4 during an incident in which gunmen fatally shot a police investigator in his car outside his home in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala, and two bombs went off as a police convoy headed to the site... MORE

Two Russian servicemen were reportedly killed and three were wounded in a shootout with militants in Chechnya’s Kurchaloi district, Svobodanews.ru reported on February 6. The rebels, numbering eight, reportedly managed to escape. Meanwhile, three Grozny residents were detained on suspicion of having ties to rebel... MORE

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

Moscow’s Tverskoi district court ruled on February 7 that an article published in Kommersant last June 15 violated the honor and dignity of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. The article, which was titled “Komandante Chechni” [Commandante of Chechnya], with a subtitle reading “kult lichnosti” (cult... MORE