The new wave of guerrilla activity in Chechnya and Ingushetia—so dramatically different from the Putin administration's repeated assurances of "normalization"—has led to a new wave of rumors about the possibility of a radical change in the administration's policy. Unfortunately the most likely change does not... MORE

One of Russia's most well-connected, pro-establishment business leaders urged the Putin administration to open informal talks with Aslan Maskhadov, president of Chechnya's underground separatist government, in spite of Maskhadov's claim of responsibility for the recent guerrilla raid on Ingushetia. Arkady Volsky told Ekho Moskvy radio... MORE

Harassment and intimidation of Chechen refugees in Ingushetia continued last week. The Prima human-rights news agency reported on July 28 that 50 "officers of security structures" had raided the Kristall refugee camp in Nazran on the previous day and detained five male refugees. This time... MORE

An article by Aleksandr Yelisov published in Moskovsky komsomolyets on July 30 deepens questions about the relations between the Russian security agencies and the terrorist warlord Shamil Basaev. Most of the article is a light, slice-of-life description of relatives of Basaev who live in the... MORE

Last week an appeals court in Qatar turned down the bid of two convicted Russian intelligence officers to have overturned the life prison sentences which they had received at the end of June for the February assassination of former Chechen separatist Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. The Itar-Tass... MORE

The explosion in Grozny on May 9, 2004 threw the Russian leadership into disarray. The death of Akhmad Kadyrov, as well as the drastic deterioration of the security situation in Chechnya that followed, represented the first serious challenge to Vladimir Putin during his second term.... MORE

On July 22, the election officials of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration formally rejected the registration of Malik Saidullaev as a candidate in the republic's special presidential election scheduled for the end of August. The pro-Moscow authorities thus removed from contention the one serious competitor to Kremlin-anointed... MORE

A strikingly candid discussion of the behind-the-scenes tensions between the Kremlin and the Kadyrov clan appeared on the Strana.ru website on July 23. The article by Fyodor Chekhoev predictably gave the Kremlin's viewpoint—or at least the viewpoint of that faction within the Kremlin which is... MORE

Not surprisingly, distrust and pessimism continue to be hallmarks of public opinion in Chechnya. In early July, the Institute of Social Marketing conducted an opinion survey in 74 Chechen cities, towns and villages, including Grozny, Gudermes, Shali and Urus-Martan. The results of such polls should... MORE

A July 21 article for the Polit.ru website by Aleksandr Cherkasov of the Memorial human rights group suggests that Chechnya-watchers should give more weight to ongoing unemployment as a contributing element in the tensions that led to the secessionist movement and the outbreak of war... MORE