In both Chechnya and Ingushetia, one of the most dangerous things a local official can do is to investigate atrocities against civilians by federal military and security personnel. A May 3 article by Moscow correspondent Alex Rodriguez of the Chicago Tribune reported the heroic but... MORE

On April 28 the Strana.ru website published a detailed interview with Magomed Khanbiev, the former minister of defense of the underground Maskhadov government. (In previous reports in the Russian media his surname has been spelled "Khambiev," but he made a point of insisting to Strana.ru... MORE

Even if one assumes the guilt of the two Russian intelligence officers now standing trial for the February assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, much of that episode remains mysterious. Why did the alleged assassins linger in Qatar after the killing rather than immediately making good their... MORE

In a verdict that casts further grave doubt on the rule of law in Russia, a jury trial before a military court found four Spetsnaz officers not guilty of the murder of six Chechen civilians. The jury concluded that Captain Eduard Ulman and his fellow... MORE

The Moscow-based human rights organization Memorial has received an award from the United Nations in recognition of its work for refugees, according to a May 3 report on the website Grani.ru. In expressing her and her colleagues' gratitude for the award, Svetlana Gannushkina of Memorial... MORE

--DISAGREEMENT OVER HUMAN RIGHTS POST Vladimir Lukin, the Putin administration's new human rights chief (who is also a former ambassador to Washington), recently recommended that Moscow revive the position of human rights representative for Chechnya that it had abolished several months earlier. The Kadyrov administration... MORE

A startling admission can be found buried deep within a recent interview given by a high ranking official of the administration of Akhmad Kadyrov. The official, Deputy Premier Adlan Magomadov, who also serves as Kadyrov's representative in Moscow, was unable to provide any evidence of... MORE

The German human rights organization Gesellschaft fuer bedrohte Voelker ("Society for Threatened Peoples;" website www.gfbv.de) warned in an April 22 statement that the authorities in several German states are moving to deport Chechen refugees back to Russia. Chechens living in the states of Hamburg, Lower... MORE

In what can only be interpreted as a strong new confirmation of his confidence in the Putin administration's backing for his continued rule in Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov has identified and denounced a specific atrocity committed by the federal armed forces. This is a novelty, and... MORE

Aleksandr Litvinenko, the former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) now living in the United Kingdom, shared with the pro-separatist "Chechenpress" website his thoughts about the current assassination trial in Qatar. Contrary to the claims of his former colleagues, Litvinenko insisted that the... MORE