The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) issued a statement on May 10 calling on the leadership of the separatist Chechen government "to take steps toward peace, even in the absence of a reciprocal effort by the Russian Federation, and reaffirm its commitment to... MORE

Russian news agencies reported on May 15-16 that the former rebel vice-president, Vakha Arsanov, was killed in a security operation in Grozny's Staropromyslovsky district on May 15. Chechen Deputy Interior Minister Sultan Satuev said that four militants, including Arsanov, were killed in a sweep of... MORE

The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (ORChD) reported on May 13 that an "armed clash" occurred on May 11 between members of Chechnya's presidential security service who are subordinated to First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian army personnel. The shootout was apparently the result of,... MORE

Gen.-Major Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian military operation in the North Caucasus, reported on May 17 that security services had killed Alash Daudov, the second-ranking rebel leader, behind Shamil Basaev. According to the Associated Press, Daudov was among three suspected militants killed in an... MORE

Kavkazky Uzel reported on May 14 that more than 1,000 people blocked a highway in Dagestan's Kizlyar district to demand the release of Magomed and Gazimagomed Gairbekov brothers. The two were arrested on suspicion of having carried out the February 16 bombing in the center... MORE

Security forces and police in Karachaevo-Cherkessia carried out a special operation on May 14 against suspected militants who were holed up in an apartment building in Cherkessk, the republic's capital. According to the FSB, six militants were killed in the operation. The Associated Press quoted... MORE

The Caucasus Times reported on May 16 that residents of the village of Khasanya in Kabardino-Balkaria were prevented from holding a protest in the republic's capital, Nalchik, to protest the killing of the head of their village's administration, Artur Zokaev. According to the publication's website,... MORE

The trial of the sole survivor of the September 2004 attack on the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Nur-Pashi Kulaev, got underway in the North Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz on May 17, but was suspended by the judge until May 19 after distraught relatives of... MORE

Since the beginning of April, Ramzan Kadyrov's units have sharply increased the number of military actions in neighboring Daghestan, particularly on the territory of the Hasavyurt district – populated predominantly by Chechens and Avars. These actions followed public statements by Kadyrov that Chechen warlord Shamil... MORE

--SOLDIERS MOTHERS: 2,000 SERVICEMEN MISSING Valentina Melnikova, head of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees, believes that 2,000 of the Russian soldiers sent to Chechnya during the two wars remain unaccounted for, Novye izvestia reported on May 17. According the newspaper, the Russian government puts... MORE