Dzhabrailov's September 2 departure from the presidential race left Bislan Gantemirov, his most prominent supporter in Grozny, in an untenable position. Gantemirov had taken the risky step of publicly endorsing Dzhabrailov without resigning from his post as Kadyrov's minister of the press. Not surprisingly, Gantemirov... MORE

Anna Politkovskaya is among those observers who believe that Kadyrov has not yet wrapped up his election victory and that the Kremlin is still keeping other options available. In a September 8 article for Novaya gazeta she wrote that Moscow deliberately chose to tolerate the... MORE

The leaders of Russia's main human rights organizations announced on September 9 that they will not lend legitimacy to the October 5 presidential election by sending observers. Svetlana Gannushkina of Civic Action, Lev Ponomarev of the "For Human Rights" movement and Yury Samodurov of the... MORE

Landmines killed more people in Chechnya last year than in any country in the world, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines announced on September 9. Chechnya also had one of fastest rates of increases in such deaths. The estimated death toll for Chechnya was 5,695,... MORE

Polling data from war-torn Chechnya should be treated with caution. For that very reason, it is noteworthy that two-thirds (68 percent) of eligible voters recently surveyed by the Validata Institute were bold enough to answer that they believe the presidential election will be neither free... MORE

In a remarkably under reported statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin has apparently accused lower echelon U.S. government officials of meeting with known Chechen terrorists. On September 20, a few days before flying to the United States for his summit meeting with President George W. Bush,... MORE

With a final decision in the Zakaev extradition case now expected at the end of October, both the friends and the enemies of the Chechen diplomat are analyzing the final days of the London court hearings to guess what that decision will be. The friends... MORE

Political observers are still speculating about what lay behind the Putin administration's sudden decision earlier this month to persuade or force every serious opposition candidate out of Chechnya's presidential race. The puzzle, of course, is that this abrupt reversal of tactics effectively nullified much of... MORE

With the forced removal or "voluntary" withdrawal from the presidential race of Khusein Dzhabrailov, Aslambek Aslakhanov and Malik Saidullaev--the three serious rivals to the de facto incumbent Akhmad Kadyrov--and also of minor candidate Said-Selim Tsuev, there remained six (theoretically) active candidates as of September 24.... MORE

The chances of ordinary Chechens receiving anything resembling fair compensation for their homes and other property destroyed by Russian carpet bombing and other military action now appear increasingly remote. Before September it seemed that Akhmad Kadyrov would use the payments as a tactic to boost... MORE