Kommersant reported on November 24 that an operation to destroy Chechen rebel leader Dokku Umarov that was carried out over the span of three days near the village of Yandy-Kotar in Chechnya’s Achkoi-Martan district had ended in failure. Citing “unofficial information,” the newspaper reported that... MORE

A World Bank study released on November 29 concluded that a rise in the number of young people coupled with a lack of opportunity in the North Caucasus could impede long-term economic development and threaten stability in the region. The Moscow Times on November 30... MORE

- RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO REGISTER DUTCH NGO Russia’s Federal Registration Service has refused to register the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative, a Dutch NGO that has represented Russians in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, in cases of abuse in Chechnya. The... MORE

The recent murder of Movladi Baisarov, a pro-Russian Chechen field commander, in a shootout in Moscow has trigged a discussion about the uneasy relations between Ramzan Kadyrov, the most influential leader in the pro-Russian Chechen camp, and Russian security officials. Movladi Baisarov was the commander... MORE

Shortly after the Jordanian Arab Abu Hafs al-Urdani succeeded the late Abu Walid as the commander of the foreign mujahideen in Chechnya, his death or detention was declared a priority for all of Russia’s secret services. (RIA Novosti, December 15, 2004) After a decade in... MORE

At first glance, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov’s position in the republic’s hierarchy was strengthened significantly on November 18, when one of his most vocal opponents, former Gorets special forces unit leader Movladi Baisarov, was shot and killed in Moscow. It is possible, however, that... MORE

Vyacheslav Izmailov, military columnist for Novaya gazeta, wrote in the bi-weekly’s November 20 edition that back on October 21, two weeks after the murder of the newspaper’s Chechnya correspondent, Anna Politkovskaya (Chechnya Weekly, October 12), another leading opponent of Ramzan Kadyrov, former Chechen vice premier... MORE

The apparent poisoning in London of former FSB lieutenant colonel Aleksandr Litvinenko (Chechnya Weekly, November 16) has grown into a major international scandal. Doctors and other specialists remain uncertain what substance poisoned Litvinenko, who accused the FSB of involvement in the 1999 apartment building bombings... MORE

On November 15 and 16, a video statement made by Anzor Astemirov, aka Emir Seyfullah, the leader of the rebels of Kabardino-Balkaria, a region in the North Caucasus, was posted on the rebel-based Camagat website as well as the Kavkaz Center website. Astemirov said that... MORE

The recent appointment of Hussein Djabrailov as a vice prime minister of Chechnya has generally been ignored by the media, despite the fact that this is a demonstration of the increasing strength of Ramzan Kadyrov's position in the republic as the Prime Minister of the... MORE