A group of Chechen public figures led by Ruslan Khasbulatov, former speaker of the Russian Federation's parliament, has issued a written appeal to Vladimir Putin protesting the one-sided use of "administrative resources" to help the Kremlin's favored candidate Alu Alkhanov. The joint statement charged that... MORE

As if the exclusion on technical grounds of Alu Alkhanov's one serious rival in the August 29 election were not sufficient, the authorities of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration have now conducted a security raid on the home of another candidate. It would seem that the raid... MORE

Despite continuing rumbles of discontent from the "siloviki" of the Moscow center's security agencies, new signs are appearing that Alu Alkhanov will be able to increase the pro-Moscow administration's control of federal subsidies after his near-certain victory in the upcoming August 29 special election. According... MORE

In another hint that he wants to show at least some independence from the Kremlin line, Alu Alkhanov told journalists in Moscow on August 18 that he does not in principle rule out the possibility of negotiations with the underground Maskhadov government. "If Maskhadov wants... MORE

New findings released on August 5 by the Levada.ru website, voice of Russia's most authoritative independent opinion-poll service, show continued long-term erosion in popular support for the war in Chechnya. Nevertheless, that erosion is slow—and in fact, in some ways agreement with the Kremlin's policies... MORE

In another indirect mission that the federal military effort in Chechnya has been a tactical as well as a strategic failure, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on August 17 that it would be changing its methods of fighting the rebel guerrillas. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov... MORE

The June raid on Ingushetia increasingly seems to be just one instance of the war in Chechnya spreading to neighboring territories. In an August 20 article for Nezavisimaya gazeta, correspondents Andrei Riskin, Maria Bondarenko and Nadezhda Popova concluded that the entire North Caucasus is "swiftly... MORE

Moscow municipal authorities have decided to name a city street for the assassinated Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov, according to an Interfax report of August 17. The renaming of the street, located near Moscow's southern boundary, is said by critics to violate a local law against... MORE

In early August, Ilyas Akhmadov, foreign minister in the underground separatist government of Aslan Maskhadov, finally won his long quest for permanent political asylum in the United States. The final breakthrough came with a decision by the U.S. government's executive branch not to appeal an... MORE

--RAMZAN OFFERS FORCES FOR SOUTH OSSETIA Further solidifying his reputation as a rhetorical loose cannon, Ramzan Kadyrov told the Georgian television station Mze in an August 21 interview that he was prepared to send 5,000 gunmen from his personal security force to South Ossetia. That... MORE