One rebel was killed and two detained on December 25 during a gunfight with security forces in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachaevo-Cherkessk, on December 25. The Associated Press reported that authorities surrounded the five-story apartment building where the four alleged militants were believed to be... MORE

- SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS KULAEV’S LIFE SENTENCE On December 26, Russia’s Supreme Court upheld a life sentence for Nur-Pashi Kulaev, the only militant known to have survived the 2004 Beslan school siege that killed more than 300 people. As the Associated Press noted, the court... MORE

On August 2 of last year, President Vladimir Putin issued a decree instructing the Russian military command to submit, by December 15, 2006, a plan for a stage-by-stage withdrawal of troops from Chechnya in 2007-2008 (Chechnya Weekly, August 10, 2006). However, continuing hostilities in the... MORE

December 11 was the 12th anniversary of the start of the first Chechen war. On that date in 1994, then President Boris Yeltsin sent 40,000 federal troops backed by armor and aviation units into the breakaway republic, ostensibly to “restore constitutional order.” As Kavkazky Uzel... MORE

Alla Dudaeva, widow of the Chechen leader Djokhar Dudaev, gave an extensive interview to Sobesednik that was published on December 11, the twelfth anniversary of the start of the first Chechen war. Dudaeva, who is now living with her son in Lithuania, told the Russian... MORE

The Associated Press reported on December 13 that a soldier committed suicide in Chechnya, while another serviceman deserted in neighboring Ingushetia. The news agency quoted regional police officials as saying that an investigation had been launched into the first incident, in which a contract soldier... MORE

A document issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on December 12 paints a rather bleak picture of the general socioeconomic situation in the North Caucasus and particularly in Chechnya. “Current assessments of humanitarian vulnerability indicate that the overall... MORE

Novaya gazeta was among the recipients of Reporters Without Borders’ annual media freedom prizes, the Associated Press reported on December 12. The Paris-based media advocacy group awards the annual prizes jointly with the Fondation de France, a private foundation, to a journalist, a media outlet,... MORE

- ULMAN AND CO-DEFENDANTS DENY CHARGES Captain Eduard Ulman and three other Russian military officers accused of murdering six civilians in Chechnya four years ago have admitted involvement, but denied the charges against them, RIA Navistar reported on December 12. Ulman, Lieutenant Alexander Kalagansky, Major... MORE

On December 8, the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya gazeta published an article about Abu Hafs, a Chechen rebel field commander of Arab origin who was killed in the Dagestani town of Khasavuyrt on November 27. The core of the article discussed the financial documents, which the... MORE