U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns was in the North Caucasus from December 4-5, visiting Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Vladikavkaz and Beslan in North Ossetia. According to the U.S embassy in Moscow’s website, Burns met with the President of Kabardino-Balkaria, Arsen Kanokov, “and reiterated... MORE

On December 5, Ramzan Kadyrov, the prime minister of Chechnya’s pro-Russian government, triumphantly declared that “the illegal armed formations in Chechnya have almost been destroyed” and that the republic has become a part of Russia, like any other region of the country. “We have cleaned... MORE

One of the most surprising elements in the recent poisoning of the former FSB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko is his apparent deathbed conversion to Islam. At first, there seemed little reason to believe this unlikely development, but the gradual confirmation of the story has raised a... MORE

December 11 was the 12th anniversary of the start of the first Chechen war. On that date in 1994, then President Boris Yeltsin sent 40,000 federal troops backed by armor and aviation units into the breakaway republic, ostensibly to “restore constitutional order.” As Kavkazky Uzel... MORE

Alla Dudaeva, widow of the Chechen leader Djokhar Dudaev, gave an extensive interview to Sobesednik that was published on December 11, the twelfth anniversary of the start of the first Chechen war. Dudaeva, who is now living with her son in Lithuania, told the Russian... MORE

The Associated Press reported on December 13 that a soldier committed suicide in Chechnya, while another serviceman deserted in neighboring Ingushetia. The news agency quoted regional police officials as saying that an investigation had been launched into the first incident, in which a contract soldier... MORE

A document issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on December 12 paints a rather bleak picture of the general socioeconomic situation in the North Caucasus and particularly in Chechnya. “Current assessments of humanitarian vulnerability indicate that the overall... MORE

Novaya gazeta was among the recipients of Reporters Without Borders’ annual media freedom prizes, the Associated Press reported on December 12. The Paris-based media advocacy group awards the annual prizes jointly with the Fondation de France, a private foundation, to a journalist, a media outlet,... MORE

On December 8, the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya gazeta published an article about Abu Hafs, a Chechen rebel field commander of Arab origin who was killed in the Dagestani town of Khasavuyrt on November 27. The core of the article discussed the financial documents, which the... MORE

On January 3, a shootout between gunmen and police in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala left a police officer and two local residents wounded and one gunman dead. Citing Dagestan’s Interior Ministry, ITAR-TASS reported that the incident took place around 5PM Moscow time on Ganidov... MORE