The October 10 issue of the newspaper Kommersant contained a report by correspondent Musa Muradov, who wrote that significant structural changes appeared to be afoot in Chechnya. On October 9, the employees of the passport-visa service of the police department of the Russian Ministry of... MORE

The official Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported on October 15 that a source within the Combined Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya had stated that "according to operative data, the notorious warlord Khattab is planning to go to Afghanistan to fight against the U.S. troops... MORE

On October 17, the Associated Press reported that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, while flying to China from India for a meeting of Asian-Pacific foreign ministers, had told reporters traveling on the plane that the United States recognizes that Russia has the right to... MORE

On October 15 the Russian newspaper Izvestia published the text of an interview conducted with President Bush's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice. Asked whether "official Washington understands somewhat better what it is that the Kremlin encountered in Chechnya," Rice replied: "We have always said that... MORE

On October 15, Novaya Gazeta published verbatim the text of a statement it had just received from Washington, DC: "President George Bush has sent a request to the president of the Chechen Republic, Aslan Maskhadov, that he not maintain any ties with bin Laden or... MORE

The October 18 issue of Obshchaya Gazeta carried an interview conducted in Tbilisi with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. Asked whether a group of Chechen fighters led by the well-known field commander Ruslan Gelaev was in fact present in the Kodori Gorge region of Georgia, Shevardnadze... MORE

On October 17, it was reported that the pro-Moscow police force of Chechnya--to be staffed largely by ethnic Chechens--will consist of 6,256 personnel. Of this number, 5,886 have already begun work. The force is being headed in an acting capacity by police colonel Akhmed Dakaev... MORE

Russian military draft boards located in the Chechen Republic have compiled a list of 41,000 residents of Chechnya who are eligible for the draft. It is planned to induct "not less than 5,000 Chechens" by the autumn of 2002. Military medical examinations have revealed that... MORE

On October 17, the online daily Vesti.ru published the text of an interview with Vladislav Reznik, deputy head of the "Unity" faction in the Russian parliament and deputy chairman of the State Duma's Budget Committee. "Unity," as Reznik noted during the interview, "is a presidential... MORE