On January 30, Colonel General Valery Manilov, deputy chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces, categorically denied that the Russian military contingent serving in Chechnya was to undergo significant cuts. Manilov emphasized that "a 50 or 25 percent reduction in force size is simply... MORE

The Russian Committee of Soldiers' Mothers has announced its latest findings concerning Russian military and MVD losses incurred during the present "counterterrorist operation"--6,500 deaths in total. The committee also drew attention to a flagrant violation of Russian law: under-aged youths, who are legally not subject... MORE

As was noted in a previous issue of this newsletter, Stanislav Il'yasov, formerly the head of government of Stavropol Krai, has been named prime minister of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya. In press interviews, Il'yasov has drawn attention to the fact that he was born... MORE

On February 8, the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta carried a critical assessment, written by military journalist Mikhail Khodarenok, of the announced plan to base Russian military forces in garrisons in 162 population points located throughout Chechnya. The author of this plan, Khodarenok underscored, was General Anatoly... MORE

On February 7, the Foreign Minister of Romania, Mircea Geoana, arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Geoana introduced the Russian side to the diplomat who is to head the OSCE's assistance mission to Chechnya: Aleksandru Cornea, the former Romanian ambassador... MORE

Controversy continued to swirl in the Russian media concerning the January 9 kidnapping and February 4 release of U.S. aid worker Kenneth Gluck. "Who kidnapped him," the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets asked, "and who liberated him? And what is the relation of the Russian special services... MORE

One of the few Russian officers serving in Chechnya to have been charged with a serious crime is Colonel Yury Budanov, former commander of the 160th Tank Regiment, who was arrested at the end of March 2000 for allegedly having raped and then strangled an... MORE

At the beginning of February, Vakhtang Shamiladze, chairman of the subcommittee of the Georgian parliament for relations with the peoples of the North Caucasus, urged publicly that the estimated 7,500 Chechen refugees currently living in the Pankisi Gorge in northeastern Georgia be forcibly returned to... MORE