On March 21, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov met in Moscow with more than 100 leaders of the Chechen community living in other parts of Russia. Kommersant reported on March 22 that the community leaders expressed “full support” for Kadyrov, who promised to complete Chechnya’s reconstruction... MORE

Kommersant reported on March 22 that during his meeting in Moscow the previous day with leaders of Chechen communities from around Russia, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov criticized the Russian media, which, he said, “continues to replicate a bad image of the Chechen.” (According to Kommersant,... MORE

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov continued his campaign against ORB-2, an operative-investigative unit of the Southern Federal District’s main Interior Ministry department that operates in Chechnya. Kadyrov, along with human rights activists and alleged victims, have accused ORB-2 of using torture. “The situation at the operative... MORE

General Arkady Yedelev, head of the Regional Operations Headquarters for the Anti-Terrorist Operation, said on March 19 that a delegation of officials from the G8 would visit Chechnya to study Russia’s counter-terrorism experience in the North Caucasus, Interfax reported on March 19. “Our measures to... MORE

On March 8, the first regularly scheduled civilian passenger flight since 1999 arrived at Severny airport near Grozny, Chechnya’s capital. This airport was completely ruined during the intensive hostilities in the republic. The Russian authorities have used this event to characterize the situation in the... MORE

While internet video-sharing sites like YouTube continue to be dominated by a sea of pop music videos and a vast assortment of odd people recording themselves doing even odder things, they are also becoming home to a large number of videos emerging from the political... MORE

Several Chechen separatist websites last week published a letter, ostensibly written by five former members of the “Gorets” special forces unit headed by Movladi Baisarov, the erstwhile bodyguard to Akhmad Kadyrov who was gunned down in Moscow last November, claiming that Anna Politkovskaya was murdered... MORE

An incident that took place in Chechnya on March 24 has raised tensions between the government of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and federal forces in the republic and, perhaps more importantly, has given fresh impetus to the Chechen leader’s push to monopolize power in the... MORE

Kavkazky Uzel, on March 28, quoted Oleg Khabibrakhmanov, head of the Inter-regional Department of the Committee Against Torture, as saying that based upon information that it had provided to the Chechen parliament last month, the Chechen prosecutor’s office has begun to look into the failure... MORE

Russian news agencies reported on March 23 that Uruskhan Zyazikov, the 72-year-old uncle of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, has been kidnapped. Nazir Yevloev, a spokesman for the Ingush Interior Ministry, told RIA Novosti that four unidentified assailants attacked Uruskhan Zyazikov and his relatives, who were... MORE