The spokesman for the regional operations headquarters of the Russian military operation in Chechnya, Major-General Ilya Shabalkin, claimed that rebel fighters loyal to Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basaev have been extorting local administration heads in Chechnya, RIA Novosti and Newsru.com reported on November 17. "The... MORE

Chechen State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov on November 19 called for the merging the existing republics of the North Caucasus into a single territory with its capital in Vladikavkaz, which is currently the capital of North Ossetia. Novye izvestia on November 22 quoted Aleksei Malashenko... MORE

As the specter of female suicide bombers has entered the known repertoire and tactics of the domestic terrorist attacks carried out within the Russian Federation, more efforts are being made to analyze and understand the processes of recruitment, training, indoctrination and motives underlying their use... MORE

The parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria sent a telegram of support to the headquarters of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko on November 23. "We support your struggle against dictatorship and Russian domination," Akhyad Idigov, head of the separatist parliament's foreign relations committee, said... MORE

Chechens held demonstrations on November 25-26 to protest the abduction of a resident of the village of Alkhan-Yurt in Chechnya's Urus-Martan district by unknown armed persons in the early hours of November 25. The Kavkazky Uzel website, citing the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, reported on November... MORE

The Chechen Times, citing the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, reported on November 26 that security forces detained two men during a zachistka in the Avtorkhan district of the capital, Grozny, on November 22. Earlier, on November 18, security forces had detained two young people during a... MORE

The pattern of kidnappings is not, unfortunately, restricted to Chechnya. The Chechen National Salvation Committee's website reported on November 26 that "unknown armed members of Russian power structures in masks and camouflage uniforms" had the previous day broken into a house being rented by the... MORE

The Chechen Times reported on November 26 that a mass grave containing the bodies of eleven unidentified young people, aged 12 to 20, was discovered near the Gudermes district village of Jalka on November 20. On November 19, a charred body was found near town... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov on November 26 delivered a report to a conference on "problems of the state's national policy in the Chechen Republic." He characterized the situation in Chechnya as "complicated but stable," Novye izvestia reported on November 29. In one part of his... MORE

Mixed messages have been coming from some of those charged with investigating the Beslan school seizure concerning possible foreign involvement in the tragedy. Federation Council Vice-speaker Aleksandr Torshin, who heads the parliamentary commission investigating the circumstances surrounding the Beslan terrorist act, told Interfax on November... MORE