Russia's Foreign Ministry has demanded explanations from Sweden concerning the opening of the Chechen separatist Kavkaz Center website in Sweden. "We expect Sweden, which says that it is a steadfast member of the international coalition in the war on terror, to take necessary action to... MORE

The spokesman for the regional operations headquarters of the Russian military operation in Chechnya, Major-General Ilya Shabalkin, claimed that rebel fighters loyal to Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basaev have been extorting local administration heads in Chechnya, RIA Novosti and Newsru.com reported on November 17. "The... MORE

Chechen State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov on November 19 called for the merging the existing republics of the North Caucasus into a single territory with its capital in Vladikavkaz, which is currently the capital of North Ossetia. Novye izvestia on November 22 quoted Aleksei Malashenko... MORE

As the specter of female suicide bombers has entered the known repertoire and tactics of the domestic terrorist attacks carried out within the Russian Federation, more efforts are being made to analyze and understand the processes of recruitment, training, indoctrination and motives underlying their use... MORE

--SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS IN CHECHNYA? A group of Serbian terrorists was sent to Chechnya by the Russian secret services several months ago, United Press International reported on November 18. The group was headed by Rajko Kusic, a Serb paramilitary commander who is wanted by the... MORE

Former Ingushetian President Ruslan Aushev denied on November 15 reports that he had been offered the job of special presidential representative for national issues in the North Caucasus. "I learned of this from media reports," Interfax quoted him as saying. "No one has offered me... MORE

A delegation from the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees of Russia will meet with Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based Chechen separatist envoy, in Brussels on November 23 or 24, the group's executive secretary, Valentina Melnikova, told Interfax on November 15. Melnikova told the news agency that... MORE

The Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) held its General Assembly in Moscow on November 11-14, bringing together representatives of Helsinki Committees from throughout Europe, Central Asia and North America. The meeting, which was hosted by the Moscow Helsinki Group, featured a roundtable,... MORE

Amnesty International (AI) has also weighed in on the situation in Chechnya. In a report timed to coincide with the European Union-Russia summit, which was postponed earlier this month and is now scheduled for November 25, AI put together "detailed testimonies" showing how victims of... MORE

Russky kurier reported on November 15 that the case against Zara Murtazalieva, the 20-year-old Chechen woman arrested in Moscow earlier this year on charges of recruiting suicide bombers to carry out attacks in the capital, was "fully fabricated and could ‘go into the textbooks' on... MORE