The Nazran office of the respected Russian human rights organization Memorial reported last week that, on May 17, a civilian woman and a teenage girl were kidnapped in the village of Ulus-Kert, in Chechnya's Shatoi district, presumably by Russian servicemen. The kidnappers arrived in armored... MORE

The head of Chechnya's "pro-Moscow" (a phrase that perhaps should now be used only within quotation marks) administration has taken another large step toward consolidating his personal control over the republic's "silovye struktury," or security agencies. The newly appointed commander of the Chechen OMON (the... MORE

A May 22 article on the Grani.ru website reminded readers that the federal procuracy has answered an official inquiry from Duma member Sergei Kovalev about criminal investigations involving Russian servicemen during the current Chechen war. According to these official figures, the authorities have investigated twelve... MORE

In some few respects--indeed, fewer even than a year ago--Shamil Basaev remains a traditional Chechen rebel rather than a postmodern global terrorist. For one, he takes full, public and personal responsibility for his atrocities. That fact alone casts doubt on the Kremlin's attempts to create... MORE

The Yury Budanov case continues to test the Russian judicial system's ability to bring to justice Russian servicemen accused of atrocities against Chechen civilians. The case is still proceeding at a glacial pace; the latest hearing was delayed until May 26 after Budanov's new lawyer,... MORE

The next step, also clearly intended to take advantage of Russia's political climate, was for Dulimov to file a petition for a jury trial. (For the previous three years the Budanov case had been entirely in the hands of professional judges, as are most criminal... MORE

A key official of the Kadyrov administration confirmed this week, at least in part, what international humanitarian groups and human-rights advocates have been saying for many months: Most refugees in Ingushetia would prefer not to return to Chechnya at this point. Ruslan Tsugaev, who heads... MORE

KADYROV'S PRIVATE ARMY An officer of the FSB serving in Chechnya has confirmed the claims of various independent observers regarding the Kadyrov administration's use of pardons and amnesties to build up a force of "bodyguards" that is subordinate only to Kadyrov himself. Major Oleg Sobolev... MORE

Overshadowed by last week's dramatic terrorist attacks were more conventional battles between pro-Moscow servicemen and rebel guerrillas. For example, Shakhid Muguev, chief of police for the Kadyrov administration in the Vedeno district, died in a gun battle on May 19. Interfax reported that he had... MORE

Anna Politkovskaya has indicated to a friendly human rights journalist that her newspaper has additional information about the involvement of Russia's secret services in the terrorist raid on Moscow's Dubrovka theater last October--enough information to confirm that involvement even apart from her dramatic interview with... MORE