The latest bombing in Moscow is one of the most puzzling to occur so far. Like the previous week's attack on a suburban rock concert, the apparent target of this bomb, which exploded outside a cafe in the heart of the city during the night... MORE

In a July 10 column for the English-language Moscow Times, the noted military affairs analyst Pavel Felgenhauer cast further doubt on the theory that the July 5 bombing of the rock concert in suburban Tushino was the work of Chechen rebels. The official theory, as... MORE

If you were a Chechen who had been swept up by federal forces in one of their "zachistka" security sweeps--and if they did not simply kill you immediately--where would you least like them to take you? According to a report published on July 10 by... MORE

In an article for the Caucasus Reporting Service of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (www.iwpr.net), Timur Aliev wrote that Chechens crippled by military action cannot always be sure of getting help from the Kadyrov administration unless they pay bribes. Rabu Azdayeva, head of... MORE

As both Russian and local authorities continue to pressure Chechen refugees to return home from Ingushetia, a new survey by the Caucasus Times has found that the great majority of these refugees would prefer to stay where they are. According to a statement by Islam... MORE

The Kadyrov administration has been further consolidating its control over the middle and lower echelons of government in Chechnya. Krasnaya zvezda ("Red Star"), the Russian military newspaper, reported on June 2 that the newly appointed mayor of Grozny, Kadyrov loyalist Khozh-Akhmed Arsanov, had begun his... MORE

About 20 percent of the Kadyrov administration's gunmen are secretly loyal to the secessionist government of President Aslan Maskhadov, a key Maskhadov representative claimed during a visit to Washington last week. Salambek Maigov, Maskhadov's emissary in Moscow, told Chechnya Weekly that former rebel guerrillas constitute... MORE

President Maskhadov of Chechnya's underground separatist government issued a statement on July 21 calling for an "adequate reaction" from the international community to his Foreign Ministry's proposal for conditional independence under an international administration. (The full statement, in Russian, is available via the pro-Maskhadov website... MORE

Another Putin appointee called on July 22 for an investigation into the financial sources of independent human rights organizations that have criticized Putin's policies in Chechnya. In an interview with Ekho Moskvy, this Kremlin official suggested that such organizations may be connected with international terrorist... MORE

"ZACHISTKI" SAID TO BE INTENSIFYING... Systematic violations of human rights in Chechnya will lead to similar violations across the length and breadth of Russia, human rights activist Lyudmila Alekseeva predicted in an interview with the radio station Ekho Moskvy. The head of the Moscow Helsinki... MORE