The revival of an official hunting season in Chechnya--it will take place for the first time in nine years--will almost certainly be used by the pro-Putin and pro-Kadyrov media as another sign that life there is returning to "normal." But a close reading of Musa... MORE

Many observers have noted that Chechnya's traditionally flexible, syncretistic approach to its Islamic heritage is suffering inroads from extremists as the war hardens attitudes. Apparently this is now happening not only among the separatist rebels, for whom Islam provides an obvious source of anti-Russian symbols... MORE

--ATTACKS INCREASING IN CHECHNYA? Contrary to the image of "normalization" projected by the Kremlin, the number of rebel attacks in Chechnya classified by the Kadyrov administration as "terrorist" rose by more than 50 percent from 2002 to 2003. In the year just ended the total... MORE

Moskovsky komsomolets reported on January 6--quoting an unnamed separatist website--that Aslan Maskhadov, president of Chechnya's underground separatist government, had been wounded in a firefight with federal troops and Chechen police. According to separatist sources, the battle took place recently in the Nozhai-Yurt district in eastern... MORE

A video of the December 10 conference "Catastrophe in Chechnya: Escaping the Quagmire," is available on the website of the American Enterprise Institute at: https://app2.streampipe.com/esp1204/servlet/tc?cn=aei&c=10162&s=20270&e=2702&&espmt=2 The conference was cosponsored by the Jamestown Foundation, the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, the New Atlantic Initiative of... MORE

Akhmad Kadyrov has appointed Umar Dzhabrailov, one of the wealthiest members of Moscow's Chechen community, to represent the republic in the Federation Council, the upper house of the federal parliament. The surprise appointment was announced by Kadyrov's office on January 5. The Kadyrov-controlled website "Chechnyafree"... MORE

The end of 2002 saw Akhmad Kadyrov trying to complete the consolidation of his control over the pro-Moscow government apparatus in Chechnya. As of the deadline for this issue of Chechnya Weekly, he apparently has yet to achieve two key breakthroughs that he is seeking--but... MORE

Vladimir Putin's former employer, the KGB/FSB secret police, continues to extend its power over other government agencies. In a development with direct implications for Chechnya, where Russia's "anti-terrorist operation" is ostensibly under the command of the Interior Ministry, that ministry is now to be headed... MORE

Mikhail Trepashkin, the dissident lawyer and former FSB colonel arrested for his extensive activities challenging Moscow's official versions of events related to the Chechen wars (see Chechnya Weekly, December 15), has accused his Moscow jailkeepers of torturing him. According to a December 27 article on... MORE

Chechen separatist warlord Shamil Basaev, already known to be a terrorist, may or may not be training women suicide bombers to attack Russians--but at the very least he wants the world to think that he is. In late December Basaev claimed responsibility for the two... MORE