The October 10 issue of the newspaper Kommersant contained a report by correspondent Musa Muradov, who wrote that significant structural changes appeared to be afoot in Chechnya. On October 9, the employees of the passport-visa service of the police department of the Russian Ministry of... MORE

Following President Putin's televised statement on Chechnya of September 24, highly tentative negotiations began between the two sides involved in the conflict (for a detailed treatment on this subject, see Chechnya Weekly, October 3). Akhmed Zakaev, a deputy premier of the separatist government, named by... MORE

At a press conference held in Moscow on September 29, Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the pro-Moscow Chechen civilian administration, discussed his recent trip to four Middle Eastern countries. At one point, according to the online daily Gazeta.ru, "Kadyrov said that in Iraq he had discovered... MORE

According to the prestigious polling organization the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), the actions of Russian forces in Chechnya are now supported by 41 percent of Russian respondents, a 5 percent increase over July. Forty-four percent of respondents, by contrast, advocate... MORE

In a "planned rotation," Lieutenant General Vladimir Moltenskoi has been named commander of the Russian Combined Group of Forces in Chechnya, replacing Colonel General Valery Baranov, who becomes deputy commander of the North Caucasus Military District (Lenta.ru, October 5). On the night of October 7-8,... MORE

During the first week of October, a number of influential American commentators and newspaper editorial boards sharply questioned what they saw as the beginnings of an unwise and excessive embrace of the Putin regime by the Bush administration, especially in relation to the armed conflict... MORE

During the first week of October, three Russian journalists, representing different points on the political spectrum, published analyses of the situation in Chechnya suggesting that Russian policies toward the republic are deeply flawed. Leading military journalist Pavel Felgenhauer, writing in the weekly Moskovskie Novosti (no.... MORE

On September 26, the head of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was continuing visits to four Middle Eastern countries, met with President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and delivered to the Iraqi chief of state a personal message from President Vladimir Putin. During their... MORE

The Union of Soldiers' Mothers announced on September 27 that Russian military and police losses during the second Chechen war are in reality twice as high as the officially released figures. Noting that since March of this year there have been no official reports concerning... MORE