As was noted in the most recent issue of this newsletter, the award-winning Russian war correspondent Anna Politkovskaya has returned to Russia after having been ordered by her editors to spend several months abroad due to serious death threats made against her by persons opposed... MORE

On December 19, FSB director Nikolai Patrushev paid an unannounced visit to the Chechen capital, where he took part in a meeting of the pro-Moscow Chechen FSB in which the results of the past year's work were assessed. The civilian administration of Akhmad Kadyrov was... MORE

On December 17, President Putin chose to mark one of the most revered Muslim holidays, Uraza-Bairam, which marks the end of Ramadan, by "unexpectedly" combining two events in the Kremlin. A previously scheduled meeting with the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil... MORE

On December 24, during a call-in to President Putin from Russian citizens throughout the country, which was broadcast over the state-run television networks ORT and RTR, Putin was asked a question concerning a recent statement by pro-Moscow Chechen official Bislan Gantamirov. "Bislan Gantamirov," the caller,... MORE

Writing from Afghanistan in the January 1 issue of the New York Times, journalist Carlotta Gall reported that among the 3,500 foreign and Afghan Taliban fighters presently being held as prisoners by U.S. forces and their Afghan allies, not one is Chechen. "There is not... MORE

On December 23, the London-based newspaper Telegraph reported that "[Prime Minister] Tony Blair delighted the Russians yesterday by drawing a parallel between an unsolved explosion in Moscow which killed seventy-three [this figure is too low] people two years ago and the September 11 outrage.... Mr.... MORE

The Associated Press reported on December 28 that U.S. ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow had announced that since the events of September 11, 2001 the United States had "tried to do more in stopping the international terrorist dimension of the [Chechen] conflict from growing." "We... MORE

The Associated Press reported on December 17 that FSB General Aleksandr Zdanovich had "denied allegations by tycoon Boris Berezovsky that [FSB] security agents had organized the 1999 bombings of apartment houses that killed more than 300 people and were among the justifications cited for sending... MORE

On December 21, Interfax reported that the mandate of the Assistance Group to Chechnya of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will expire on December 31, 2002. This decision was taken "at the initiative of Russia" during meetings held at OSCE headquarters in... MORE