--RUSSIA WANTS U.N. SANCTIONS AGAINST EXILED CHECHEN REBELS Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax on September 9 that Russia views the UN Security Council's anti-terrorist list as incomplete and wants Chechen extremists who have committed crimes against Russian citizens to be added. "Unfortunately,... MORE

The situation in Dagestan continues to deteriorate. Despite the deployment of additional troops and police units from other Russian regions and a personal visit from President Putin, explosions and rebel attacks have only intensified in the province. The majority of observers in Russia, as well... MORE

The anniversary of the Beslan school hostage seizure was marked by, among other things, a meeting on September 2 between President Vladimir Putin and a delegation of eight Beslan residents—four members of the Belsan Mothers' Committee, three men who also lost children in the tragedy,... MORE

Some members of the Beslan Mothers' Committee, along with several hundred other residents of the town, signed an appeal asking for asylum abroad. "We, the parents and relatives of victims who died in the September 3rd [2004] terrorist act in School No. 1 in the... MORE

A Russian serviceman was killed and four were injured on September 5 when a landmine detonated under their Ural automobile in the Shali district, Radio Liberty's Russian service reported. An explosive wounded the commander of a reconnaissance unit in the Nozhai-Yurt district, RIA Novosti reported... MORE

On September 6, two explosions took place in Ingushetia's Barsuki municipal district next to the Kavkaz federal highway and near the café "Tusholi," Interfax reported. An Ingushetian Interior Ministry source told the news agency that the first explosion took place around 7:30 AM local time,... MORE

Three Dagestani policemen were shot to death on September 6 in Dagestan's Kyakentsky district, the strana.ru and Kavkazky Uzel websites reported. The murders took place when unidentified attackers fired at a police car traveling on the Kavkaz federal highway near the village of Pervomaiskoe and... MORE

--PUTIN DEFENDS HIS CHECHNYA POLICY President Putin rejected criticism over Chechnya during a meeting in the Kremlin with foreign political scientists and analysts on September 5. "We are coming under fire for our policy in Chechnya," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying. "Of course, we... MORE

On August 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree designating November 24 as the date for parliamentary elections in Chechnya. Like previous campaigns—including the referendum on the pro-Russian Constitution and presidential elections—this poll is very important to the Kremlin. Despite daily clashes between Russian... MORE

Chechen State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov raised eyebrows on August 15, when he told journalists that the two wars in Chechnya have killed about 160,000 combatants and civilians, 30,000-40,000 of them Chechen fighters and civilians. He said that the remaining victims were "representatives of various... MORE