There is little left of the Orthodox Church establishment in Chechnya. Most of Chechnya's ethnic Russian Christian minority fled in the early 1990s during the creation of Dzhokar Dudaev's independent Chechen state. The onset of war in 1994 found only the aged and the impoverished... MORE

The issue of Chechnya figured during the talks in Moscow on January 16 between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Moscow Times on January 17 quoted Merkel as saying during a joint press conference with Putin that the situation in Chechnya... MORE

The first victims of the new NGO law appear to be several foreign groups operating in Ingushetia. The Moscow Times reported on January 18 that the federal Prosecutor General's Office had announced that two foreign NGOs providing humanitarian assistance to refugees in the North Caucasus... MORE

The Memorial human rights group said that the number of abductions in Chechnya dropped in 2005 but that kidnapping remains an acute problem, the Associated Press reported on January 17. According to Memorial, 316 people were kidnapped last year, of whom 127 are still missing... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov told journalists in Grozny on January 17 that the process of "stabilization" in Chechnya was irreversible, RIA Novosti reported. The republic's "illegal armed formations" are unable to mount large-scale operations, he said, but added that the presence of "foreign mercenaries" in... MORE

Kavkazky Uzel on January 18 reported that many Chechens view acting Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov's call for the legalization of polygamy in Chechnya as a "bad joke." Kadyrov said on January 13 during a long telephone interview with Ekho Moskvy radio devoted to the... MORE

Chechen human rights activist Said-Emin Ibragimov ended his hunger strike in Strasbourg on January 18 after receiving guarantees that the situation in Chechnya would be on the agenda of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly (PACE), Kavkazky Uzel reported. Ibragimov had told the Associated Press... MORE

--150,000 CHECHEN REFUGEES IN EUROPE As many as 150,000 Chechen refugees are in Europe, Kavkazky Uzel reported on January 18, citing Prague Watchdog. According to the website, while the exact number of Chechen refugees in Europe is unknown because they are categorized simply as Russian... MORE

The announcement of the killing of Abu Omar al-Saif, "the mufti of Arab fighters in Chechnya", on December 12, 2005, shed light on the movement's future and its presence in Chechnya. While the Russian government did not deny or confirm the news until December 16,... MORE

Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basaev gave an interview to Kavkazcenter that the separatist website posted on January 9. Basaev, who holds the titles of "First Deputy Prime Minister of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, head of the Military Committee-Majlis ul-Shura, and Military... MORE