On February 2, Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov convened an unusual gathering of followers of the Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya Sufi orders in Grozny. Apart from the participants from Chechnya, “thousands” of other Sufis arrived from Dagestan, Ingushetia and other republics of the North Caucasus, Kadyrov claimed... MORE

Two months ago (December 2015), authorities in Dagestan attempted to shut down mosques in the capital Makhachkala that they did not control. The attempt ended in an embarrassing defeat for the authorities and the official mufti of the republic. The mufti lost the fight for... MORE

Speaking at a press conference reviewing the year 2015, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unexpectedly revived a question thought to have been closed long ago. “We are receiving news that members of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—the former name of the Islamic State]... MORE

On January 12, Kabardino-Balkaria’s governor, Yuri Kokov, met with the ataman (head) of the Terek Cossack Force, Aleksandr Zhuravsky. The governor’s official website pithily said that the two discussed issues pertaining to the support of traditional Cossack culture and strengthening neighborly relations between the regions... MORE

A new type of conflict is brewing between Ingushetia and North Ossetia. This time it is over the historical legacies of the Ingushetian and Ossetian people. In December, the government of Ingushetia erected the “Alania Gates” in the republican capital Magas. Speaking at the inaugural... MORE

Since the start of the year, military exercises have taken place in both Chechnya and Dagestan. News reports emphasize that the exercises have been taking place in the mountains. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, motorized infantry snipers of the Southern Military District who are... MORE

On January 19, President Vladimir Putin met with the governor of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Rashid Temrezov, in Moscow. Temrezov reported that the republic reduced its dependence on the Russian federal budget in 2015, and that tax collection rates and the republican economy overall were better last year... MORE

With Russia’s financial situation becoming more precarious, the country’s regions are likely to gain more power, according to the Russian economist Denis Sokolov. “If the year 2015 was the year of the zachistka (mop-up operation) against the regional elites, the year 2016 will become the... MORE

A strange armed clash that took place in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, in mid-January had unexpected results for government forces. The authorities introduced a counterterrorist operation regime in the city, after which security forces sealed off a house in which, they claimed, three suspected... MORE

Since the conquest of the North Caucasus in the 19th century, Russian politicians have generally failed to understand the essence of Islam and repeatedly tried to create a pro-Russian Muslim clergy that would represent the Russian authorities among the country’s Muslim population instead of reflecting... MORE