A leaked version of the North Ossetian parliamentary report on the Beslan hostage crisis was much more critical of federal authorities than the summary presented by the inquiry's chairman, Stanislav Kesaev, to the legislature, victims' relatives and reporters on November 29, the Moscow Times noted... MORE

Russian media on November 30 reported that security forces were conducting a large-scale special operation following the murder of the head of the Avtury village administration, Ibragim Umpashaev, and his son Isa. According to Ren TV, as many as 20 armed people had entered the... MORE

The home of Nazran police chief Dzhabrail Kastoev came under on November 29. Ingushetian Interior Minister Beslan Khamkhoev told Interfax that rebels fired from assault rifles and grenade launchers at Kastoev's house in Ingushetia's Nazranovsky district. "The house was fired at from the local cemetery,"... MORE

Fresh from the victory of his loyalists in parliamentary elections, Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov set about "expanding his republic's living space," as Nezavisimaya gazeta put it on December 6. "The accomplishment of this task has dragged on for around 15 years," he... MORE

An unnamed local government official told Agence France-Presse on December 5 that three Russian soldiers had been killed in recent fighting in Chechnya. The official said that one soldier died and another five were injured in a total of 13 attacks by separatist fighters on... MORE

Russian authorities flew 125 Chechen refugees on December 6 from Tbilisi, Georgia, to Makhachkala, Dagestan, where they were to be taken by bus to Chechnya, the Associated Press reported. The refugees, who were among thousands of Chechens who fled to Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, were being... MORE

A leading Russian newspaper, the Iranian government and a Chechen separatist website have all dismissed a British newspaper report claiming that Iran is training Chechen rebels. Citing "Western intelligence reports" as its source, the Sunday Telegraph reported on November 27 that "teams of Chechen fighters"... MORE

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) sent an open letter on December 5 to Dagestan's prosecutor, Rashidhan Magomedov, expressing concern about the arrest of human rights activist Osma Boliev. According to the Vienna-based human rights group, Boliev is a well-known human rights defender... MORE

The bloody events in Nalchik on October 13-14 this year not only indicated the radicalization of Muslim youth in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR), but also cast light on the drama of the relationships between the authorities and Muslims that has been developing in the... MORE

President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit December 12 to Chechnya, where he addressed the first session of the republican parliament that was elected on November 27. According to the text of the speech as posted on the Kremlin's website, kremlin.ru, Putin told the Chechen... MORE