Emil' Pain, an advisor to President Yeltsin during the first Russo-Chechen war, and then director of the Center for Ethno-Political and Regional Studies in Moscow, gave a talk at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on 30 October in which, inter alia, he... MORE

On 12 November, a bizarre incident, or, rather, series of incidents, occurred which pointed up the immense problems Russia is having in controlling the tempestuous pro-Moscow Chechen leadership of the republic and underscored the riven nature of the Russian military and police presence in Chechnya.... MORE

On November 14, the online daily news service Gazeta.ru, frequently a quite reliable source of information, reported that it appeared that President Aslan Maskhadov had left the borders of Chechnya. According to trustworthy sources, "Maskhadov did indeed leave the territory of Chechnya at the end... MORE

On November 8, it was reported that, after a visit by President Putin to the North Caucasus region, he affirmed that he would like to see foreign investors, and not the Russian government, pay for the physical restoration of Chechnya (Lenta.ru, November 8).

There are respected political analysts both in Russia and in the West who believe that Vladimir Putin's most dangerous political rival today may be 43-year-old Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov, presently commander of the 58th Russian Army based in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, who is now also... MORE

There are indications that the Russian Defense Ministry and Ministry of Internal Affairs have resolved to establish a long-term, high-profile military presence in Chechnya. Speaking to reporters at the Khankala Military Base outside of Djohar [Grozny] on November 2, Defense Minister Igor Sergeev and General... MORE

During his recent three-day visit to France to attend a European Union-Russia summit meeting and to conduct bilateral talks with President Chirac and other French officials, President Putin also took a hard line on Chechnya. While he expressed agreement with the contention of European Union... MORE

Intrigues continue to swirl around the Moscow-appointed Chechen political leadership headed by Mufti Akhmad Kadyrov and his disobedient No. 2, the newly reappointed mayor of Djohar, Bislan Gantamirov, a convicted embezzler. According to reports appearing in the Russian press, the two leaders remain bitter rivals,... MORE

On October 31, there were two de facto attempts on the life of Mufti Kadyrov. A Chechen suicide bomber blew himself up when he proved unable to get close enough to Kadyrov's headquarters to kill the pro-Moscow leader. And, on the evening of the same... MORE