As predicted by various well-placed sources in Moscow earlier this month (see Chechnya Weekly, July 7), General Anatoly Kvashnin has been fired from his position as chief of staff of the Russian armed forces. He and several other high-ranking officers are clearly being made to... MORE

Apparently for the first time, an official of Ingushetia's Prosecutor's Office has specifically admitted the existence of a phenomenon which has long been discussed by journalists and human-rights activists: the involvement of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in kidnapping Ingush civilians and transporting the across... MORE

The Prava Cheloveka v Rossii (Human Rights in Russia) website provide additional details on July 13 further confirming that Chechen refugees in Ingushetia are now coming under sharply increased pressure to leave even the small settlements that have remained since the forcible closing of the... MORE

Last week's Moskovskie novosti reported that the two Russian intelligence-agents sentenced to life in prison for murdering a Chechen extremist in Qatar have filed an appeal to a higher court. RIA Novosti reported on July 15 that the appeal will not be considered by the... MORE

--OSCE WILL NOT MONITOR CHECHEN ELECTION The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has decided not to send official observers to monitor the August 29 election. In a July 15 interview with RIA Novosti, the head of the OSCE's bureau for democracy and human... MORE

This evening (Wednesday, July 14), the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., is to host a panel of experts on the topic "Chechnya after a Decade of Destruction." Featured speakers are Chechen medical doctor Khassan Baiev, author of The Oath: A Chechen Surgeon Under Fire;... MORE

The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya released a statement on July 7 welcoming calls for peace talks by Aslan Maskhadov, president of Chechnya's underground separatist government, and Ingush President Murat Zyazikov. ACPC Executive Director Glen Howard said that "it is encouraging to see that... MORE

In an interview published on a separatist-controlled website and excerpted by Gazeta.ru on July 6, Aslan Maskhadov made a novel suggestion to his adversaries in Moscow. He offered to Russia the help of his guerrillas in securing the Caucasus from influence by Western countries. "We... MORE

An even bigger loser than Vladimir Putin from last month's guerrilla raid on Ingushetia turns out to be that republic's president Murat Zyazikov. The latter, a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer essentially appointed to his post in a rigged election two years ago, has failed... MORE

Further confirmation of the transformation of the Chechen war into a wider Chechen-Ingush war came last week as a Chechen extremist website reported the proclamation by Ingush rebels of a jihad extending over the entire territory of Ingushetia. The proclamation, summarized by the Newsru.com website... MORE