REBELS CARRY OUT ATTACKS IN CHECHNYA… Three policemen from an OMON special police task force were wounded when their jeep was fired upon near a checkpoint on the road between the town of Shali and the village of Agishty, Interfax reported. The three servicemen were... MORE

Last summer, following the death of Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev in Chechnya, the successor to Aslan Maskhadov as the Chechen rebel leader, senior field commander Dokku Umarov, became the top leader of the Chechen and the North Caucasian insurgency. When Shamil Basaev died in Ingushetia last July,... MORE

Ramzan Kadyrov has again insisted that he does not want to become Chechnya’s president but will do so if the people demand it. According to the Associated Press, Kadyrov told reporters in Gudermes on September 27 that he was not ready to become president “because... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said on September 26 that the number of kidnappings in Chechnya has dropped significantly. “Unfortunately, cases of kidnapping continue to take place,” Interfax quoted him as saying during a press conference in Grozny. “But in speaking about this, it is necessary... MORE

Rebel attacks have increased in Chechnya over the last week. Interfax reported on September 28 that a police officer was killed and another wounded in an attack by “members of illegal armed groups.” The news agency quoted a Chechen Interior Ministry source as saying that... MORE

--KOZAK VOWS TO PREVENT FUTURE CHECHEN-INGUSH VIOLENCE The Russian presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, said on September 25 that those responsible for the September 13 shootout between Ingush and Chechen police on the administrative border between the two republics would face... MORE

The statements made by the pro-Moscow Chechen leaders Alu Alkhanov and Ramzan Kadyrov are becoming ever more comical as the two leaders consistently contradict each other while addressing the same issues. The complex relationship between the head of the pro-Moscow government, Ramzan Kadyrov, and the... MORE

The Kremlin on September 18 asked the State Duma to approve an amnesty plan for militants in Chechnya and other republics of the North Caucasus. The Associated Press, citing Itar-Tass, quoted the chairman of the Duma committee on criminal legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, as saying that... MORE

Memorial released a statement on September 16 concerning the gun battle that took place between Chechen OMON police commandos and Ingush police on the administrative border between Chechnya and Ingushetia on September 13, in which eight people died–up from the original reported death toll of... MORE

Eight militants were captured in a special operation in the city of Malgobek in Ingushetia on September 21, during which five policemen were wounded, Newsru.com reported. Security forces blockaded the militants in a private home, but were fired on by accomplices of the rebels. “The... MORE