The news that the Boston terrorists are ethnic Chechens who have lived in the United States for many years may be shocking for many Americans, but in Russia it does not seem that surprising. How Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become so alienated from the country that... MORE

The focus of the media on the suspected Boston bombers, the Tsarnaev brothers is fully justified, but understanding the wider context of the crime may be just as helpful (https://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/223152/). Whatever the brothers’ personal experience was, if it is confirmed in the end that they... MORE

Surprising news emerged from Moscow this week that Ruslan Aushev plans to challenge the current head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and run for the position of republican head. Aushev made his unexpected announcement on the Dozhd TV channel on the evening of April 16, 2013.... MORE

Gazprom’s chief spokesman, Sergei Kupryanov, has announced plans to vastly increase Russia’s pipeline capacities for gas export to Europe, far above Gazprom’s existing supply commitments or possibilities. Along with this, the spokesman informed the well-respected East European Gas Analysis consultancy based in the United States... MORE

Lenin’s classic declaration on the 1917 revolution—“Comrades! The socialist revolution that the Bolsheviks were talking about for so long has come true!”—can be used to describe the Magnitsky Act. Yet, the much talked-about act did not turn out to be as comprehensive as expected.The Magnitsky... MORE

Last week (April 12), the United States government published, in accordance with the US Magnitsky Act adopted last December, a list of 18 Russians accused of involvement in the death in custody of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and other alleged rights abuses (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20130412.aspx). The blacklisted... MORE

A surprising series of counter-terrorist operations in North Ossetia were launched in the spring of 2013. On March 4, a counter-terrorism operation regime was introduced in three villages—Tarskoe, Verkhny Komgaron and Nizhny Komgaron. All three are located in the southeastern part of the republic, bordering... MORE

For more than two decades, Moscow has exploited the tensions between Transnistria and Chisinau to try to bring Moldova to heel. More recently, it has sought to use Moldova’s Gagauz minority to do the same thing. And over the past ten days, it appears to... MORE

Belarus and Russia will stage a joint military exercise on Belarusian territory in September, allegedly to rehearse a defense against a Polish attack on the country. Controversy concerning plans for Zapad 2013 relate to the issue of whether Moscow will repeat the pattern from Zapad... MORE

On April 11, government forces launched a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the village of Gimry in Dagestan. The area was sealed off and all residents of the village were evacuated. As the security forces fought militants from the group headed by Ibragim Gajidadaev on the... MORE