On December 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russia has strengthened its control over the entire length of the Russian-Georgian border. "In Georgia," he remarked, "there are districts which are controlled by no-one and are de facto occupied by foreign mercenaries. From this... MORE

On December 13, the prime minister of the pro-Moscow Chechen government, Stanislav Il'yasov, informed Izvestia that a draft of a new constitution for Chechnya has been sent to the Russian presidential administration. Il'yasov is convinced that the constitution will be approved within a year's time... MORE

In the information war for Chechnya," the Moscow Times reported on December 14, "the empire has struck back. Kremlin-connected Strana.ru on [13 December] launched a Chechnya web site, Kavkaz.strana.ru, in an attempt to counterbalance the many sites set up by Chechen separatists, including the rebels'... MORE

Interviewed in Moscow by Russian TV-6 Television on December 9, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated in response to a question about the position of the U.S. administration toward the Russian government's actions in Chechnya in the wake of the September 11 events: "We noted... MORE

On December 14, the well-known entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky addressed participants in a Moscow conference, which was entitled "Civil Society and Human Rights," from Europe via a TV link. "It has to be said," NTV's "Segodnya" program commented, "that the entrepreneur's address was more like a... MORE

On December 12, Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov delivered a three-hour summing-up speech at the building of the Dagestan Supreme Court in Makhachkala in which he asserted "that the prosecution had proved all the points of the indictment and that the accused [Salman] Raduev had... MORE

On December 14, six specialists on the Caucasus region sent an open letter to the editor of The New York Times taking exception to an article by correspondent Michael Wines appearing in the December 9 issue of the newspaper. The six signatories were: Charles H.... MORE

On December 10, the Interfax-AVN news service reported that, "The Administration of the FSB for Chechnya has officially informed the [pro-Moscow] administration and government of the republic that the activity of a number of international organizations on the territory of the region bears an illegal... MORE

On December 6, while visiting the city of Yekaterinburg, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russia intends to crush Chechen separatist resistance with a winter offensive targeting the guerillas' military leadership. "Special operations are being conducted right now in Chechnya, practically on a permanent... MORE