One of the most feared places in Chechnya is the huge Russian base at Khankala, just outside Grozny. It is feared not so much because it is the main headquarters for Russian military operations in the republic, but because it is a center for imprisonment... MORE

On June 20 a truck bomb exploded near a Ministry of Justice building in Grozny. About forty people were wounded, seven seriously. In a June 23 article entitled "Terrorist acts in Chechnya are taking place as if according to a schedule," correspondent Mainat Abdulaeva of... MORE

KADYROV'S MEN AND THE ABUSE OF BLOOD REVENGE Akhmad Kadyrov's gradual transformation of Chechnya into his own personal fiefdom has by some accounts now reached the point where he can trample not only on Russian laws but also on such deeply rooted Chechen traditions as... MORE

Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's uncompromising rhetoric about Chechnya, observers continue to report indications that the Kremlin is keeping alive a back channel for a possible negotiated settlement with Aslan Maskhadov's separatist government. If Moscow finally comes to accept that the current hard-line approach is... MORE

Glen Howard also met in Moscow with Ruslan Khasbulatov, who in the early 1990s held as high a position as any ethnic Chechen ever has in Russia--speaker of the Russian parliament. Khasbulatov made it clear that he continues to believe that the March referendum was... MORE

HELPING HAND FOR KADYROV'S SON Despite Akhmad Kadyrov's sometimes tense relations with Russia's security agencies, he still has enough clout to get a high-ranking FSB officer to intervene on behalf of his son Zelimkhan. Novaya gazeta reported on June 16 that Oleg Dukanov, head of... MORE

Just what are current relations between Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basaev? On June 13 the radio station Ekho Moskvy reported on indications that the elected head of Chechnya's separatist government is closer to the terrorist warlord than either has acknowledged in the recent past. Maskhadov's... MORE

As the dust settles after Akhmad Kadyrov's recent shakeup of his cabinet and of local administration heads, it is increasingly clear that the surprise move was planned as part of his campaign to win the republic's forthcoming presidential election. A correspondent for the London-based Institute... MORE

Earlier this month, Chechen residents of a refugee camp in Narzan, Ingushetia, experienced a "zachistka" security sweep of the sort more usually associated with Chechnya itself. Leila Lileva of the Russian Prima news service reported that armed men with six armored vehicles entered the camp... MORE

During his recent visit to Moscow, Glen Howard, head of the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, found that conditions for ethnic Chechens in Russia's capital appear to have improved. Police harassment has diminished to the point where many Chechens no longer take the precaution... MORE