At a meeting of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya on May 24, a decision was reached to return all Chechen refugees from Ingushetia to Chechnya before the end of June. The following day, Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration, clarified this decision: All... MORE

In the May 25 issue of Moskovsky Komsomolets, journalist Yulia Kalinina analyzed the large-scale plundering of Russian government funds earmarked for support of social services and the restoration of buildings and infrastructure in Chechnya. "The budget money which reaches Chechnya," Kalinina summed up, "is for... MORE

Recently four well-informed Russian commentators, situated at different points on the political spectrum, have written, in independent conclusions, that the war is going badly for Russia, and that the regime's chances of defeating the Chechen separatists appear to be bleak at best. Some predicted that... MORE

On May 28, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov conducted his first press conference since being appointed to his present post. Four deputy defense ministers were also in attendance. Ivanov, the newspaper Kommersant wrote, "answered questions not at all in the military style but instead in... MORE

The no. 36 (May 28-30) issue of Novaya Gazeta carried an interview with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov by award-winning war correspondent Anna Politkovskaya. Politkovskaya, it should be noted, interviewed Maskhadov in central Chechnya and not in a mountain district (Gazeta.ru, May 29). "The war," Maskhadov... MORE

The deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Rear Admiral German Ugryumov, died of an apparent heart attack on May 31 at Khankala, the main Russian military base in Chechnya. A seriously overweight man (who weighed a reported 140 kilograms), Ugryumov, who was under... MORE

It was announced on May 30 that a working visit to Washington DC by the pro-Moscow Chechen head of administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, has been postponed until the second half of June, following the summit meeting of Presidents Bush and Putin in Slovenia on June 16.... MORE

The online daily Lenta.ru disclosed on June 1 that the former mayor of Djohar (Grozny), Bislan Gantamirov, who resigned that post on May 17, will be appointed chief federal inspector in Chechnya by the plenipotentiary presidential representative in the Southern Federal District, retired General Viktor... MORE

On May 26, Russian federal forces arrested the pensioner and noted human rights activist, Dik Altemirov, in Djohar. Oleg Orlov of the human rights organization Memorial commented: "Altemirov was one of the few people in Grozny who dared to carry out human rights work.... We... MORE