Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov declared on February 10 that all rebel “armed formations” in the republic have been destroyed and that peace has arrived, Kavkazky Uzel reported on February 12. According to the website, Kadyrov said that the main credit for these achievements should... MORE

Two servicemen from the Russian Army’s 136th Motorized Infantry Brigade were killed and five were wounded in an ambush in Dagestan on February 10. Kommersant reported on February 12 that an explosion took place at around 7 p.m. on February 10 on the side of... MORE

There is no doubt that during the 43rd annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, a potential successor to Putin, attempted to demonstrate Russia’s resurging strength. While bragging about Russia’s rising power and its equal status with... MORE

Three Russian men pressed a pistol muzzle against the back of Murat Berzegov’s head. Earlier that evening, they had abducted the leader of the Circassian National Movement of Adygea right in front of his house. “We’re veterans of the security services, professionals and Russian patriots,”... MORE

In an official statement posted February 16 on the Chechen Republic’s president and government website (Chechnya.gov.ru), Ramzan Kadyrov said his appointment as the republic’s acting president the previous day was a “huge responsibility before God and the Chechen people.” “As before, huge tasks in restoring... MORE

The reaction of Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based foreign minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), to Ramzan Kadyrov’s accession as acting president of the pro-Moscow Chechen Republic raised some eyebrows. Referring to the fact that Kadyrov had fought on the separatist side during... MORE

A number of Russian observers suggested that Kadyrov’s long-predicted accession to the Chechen presidency would eventually turn into a Pyrrhic victory for the Kremlin’s “Chechenization” policy. Novaya gazeta military correspondent Vyacheslav Izmailov, a retired army major who had arranged for the release of dozens of... MORE

Newsru.com reported on February 21 that a poll conducted in February by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) found that 56 percent of the Russian public believes that the situation in Chechnya has improved lately, while 33 percent believe it has... MORE

On February 21, Newsru.com reported that the representatives of leading Russian human rights groups will boycott the human rights conference organized by the Chechen government that is scheduled to take place in Grozny on March 1. “We consider it impossible to participate in the work... MORE

Even though many decades have passed, the Second World War is still an unanswered question for the Chechen people, and this historical burden inevitably impacts the continuing development of Chechen society today. Though the current Russian government is eager to emphasize recent peaceful developments, the... MORE