In an interview published on a separatist-controlled website and excerpted by Gazeta.ru on July 6, Aslan Maskhadov made a novel suggestion to his adversaries in Moscow. He offered to Russia the help of his guerrillas in securing the Caucasus from influence by Western countries. "We... MORE

An even bigger loser than Vladimir Putin from last month's guerrilla raid on Ingushetia turns out to be that republic's president Murat Zyazikov. The latter, a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer essentially appointed to his post in a rigged election two years ago, has failed... MORE

Further confirmation of the transformation of the Chechen war into a wider Chechen-Ingush war came last week as a Chechen extremist website reported the proclamation by Ingush rebels of a jihad extending over the entire territory of Ingushetia. The proclamation, summarized by the Newsru.com website... MORE

A guerrilla raid on well-defended Grozny would be a more difficult challenge for the separatist rebels than the recent raid on Ingushetia, and a much more impressive achievement should it succeed. But the recent experience in Ingushetia, combined with memories of the rebels' brilliant storming... MORE

Eight Russian troops were slain in Chechnya during a 24-hour period ending on July 10, according to the Associated Press. An unnamed official in Grozny's pro-Moscow administration told the news agency that five of the servicemen were killed by gunfire, including an episode in Grozny... MORE

Valentina Melnikova of the respected Committee of Soldiers' Mothers told Agence France-Presse last week that her organization now estimates at nearly 13,000 the cumulative total of Russian servicemen who have been killed in the second Chechen war. She emphasized that unlike Russia's Defense Ministry, "[w]e... MORE

Though seriously ill, the dissident lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin is being held illegally in a Moscow isolation cell, according to a July 9 article on the Newsru.com website. The terms of Trepashkin's May 19 sentence for allegedly having revealed state secrets (see Chechnya Weekly, May 26)... MORE

In a long analysis published in Kommersant on July 5, Mikhail Zygar concluded that the assassination of a Chechen extremist in Qatar by two operatives of Russian military intelligence has led to a disastrous result in one often overlooked area of Russian foreign policy. Even... MORE

It was entirely predictable that the Moscow district court considering the Dubrovka lawsuit against Vladimir Putin would rule in Putin's favor. What was not so predictable was that the court decision would set forth as an explicit constitutional rule that the president is in principle... MORE

A mine exploded in Grozny on July 13 just as a large, highly guarded convoy was passing which included the car of Sergei Abramov, who has of course been acting president of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration since the assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov more than two months... MORE