Writing in the September 19 edition of Novaya Gazeta, correspondent Anna Politkovskaya provided new details concerning the death of Aslan Maskhadov last March based on documents from the criminal investigation into the incident, including the testimony of four of his confederates who were taken into... MORE

Six months have passed since the murder of Aslan Maskhadov in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt on March 8. There was speculation after the Chechen president's death about who would replace him as rebel leader. The Russian authorities did their best to inspire an armed... MORE

President Vladimir Putin took several questions from residents of Chechnya in a live link-up from Grozny during his nationally televised three-hour call-in show on September 27. As the Moscow Times reported the following day, a woman told Putin her son had disappeared without a trace... MORE

While the Russian president was talking up Chechnya's upcoming parliamentary elections, the republic's low-intensity war continued. Kavkazky Uzel, citing an anonymous source in the Chechen Interior Ministry, reported that seven Russian servicemen and Interior Ministry officers had died and fifteen had been wounded when a... MORE

Memorial has published what Kavkazky Uzel on September 21 described as "shocking details" of a special operation conducted by forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov earlier in September in the town of Argun and the settlement of Tsotsin-Yurt. Citing local residents, the human rights group reported... MORE

Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov claimed on September 22 that Chechnya's religious establishment bears "moral responsibility" for what is going on in the republic, Interfax reported. "The clergy to a significant degree is guilty for the fact young people are dying" on both... MORE

The Chechen separatist government has taken the governments of Jordan and Syria to task for meeting with Chechen President Alum Alkhanov during his trip to the two Middle Eastern countries earlier this month (see Chechnya Weekly, September 22). In a statement posted on the separatist... MORE

The authorities in Ingushetia on September 27 announced an official three-day mourning period for the murder that day of a prominent Islamic faith healer, Maksharip Belkhoroev, Itar-Tass reported. Acting Ingushetian Interior Minister Beslan Khamkhoev said the 67-year-old cleric's murderers "aimed to destabilize the situation and... MORE

After the death of Aslan Maskhadov on March 8, 2005, experts have noted a number of reasons behind the radicalization of the Chechen resistance. First, Shamil Basaev attained significant influence over power ministries with his appointment as the leading figure of the Islamist struggle in... MORE

Russian media reported on October 5 that President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Tony Blair, who held talks that day and signed a joint statement on combating terrorism, discussed the issue of Akhmed Zakaev, the Chechen separatist envoy who received political asylum in the United... MORE