Many observers were surprised by rebel leader Doku Umarov’s videotaped statement recently posted on the Internet announcing an end to the moratorium on attacks on Russian territory (https://archive.org/details/AmirIkDokkuAbuUsmanOtmenilMoratorijNaOperaciiVRossii), but this announcement should have been expected by those who follow the developments in the region. The... MORE

Even though over the past several years militants in the North Caucasus have not adhered to their old tactic of intensifying attacks in the spring-fall period, observers still tend to expect some escalation in the warmer period of the year in comparison to the cold... MORE

On July 5, President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Mikhail Fedorov, presidential advisor and chairman of the Presidential Council on human rights (Soviet po pravam chyeloveka or SPCh), Vladimir Lukin, the human rights commissioner of Russia, and former SPCh chairwoman Ella Pamfilova, whom Putin,... MORE

On June 29, a conference in support of the Syrian Circassians took place in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The participants in the conference demanded that Moscow relax visa rules and simplify the granting of refugee status to Circassians from Syria, who have reportedly experienced extreme hardship there... MORE

In the midst of the deepening political crisis in Bulgaria, Gazprom’s Chairman Alexei Miller arrived in Sofia on July 8 to make sure construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline is not further delayed. The project was already delayed when the center-right government of... MORE

A number of factors recently coalesced in Moscow’s statements concerning defense and security, military modernization, threat assessment and defense planning that may serve to stimulate further efforts to make more realistic existing plans to modernize the military. However, the persistence of pseudo-paranoia at the heart... MORE

On June 24, the acting head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, said an amnesty for militants in the republic who want to return to civilian life could be announced. Abdulatipov made the surprise comments in an interview with Russian TV Channel One (Pervy Kanal). “We should... MORE

Barely noticed in the United States and Europe, where security analysts pile their files on Egypt on top of dossiers on Brazil and Turkey, the political crisis in Russia reached a new phase last week as the Kremlin intensified its persecution of the opposition. The... MORE

Earlier this month, on the official June 12 “Russia Day” holiday, President Vladimir Putin was nominated leader of the Popular Front. The Front was established in 2011 to supplement the traditional party of power, United Russia (UR). But at the same time, the Front was... MORE

In less than a year, the Caucasus Emirate’s leaders have reversed their position on whether or not to view the uprising in Syria as a sacred jihad. The leader of the North Caucasian jihadist movement, Doku Umarov, spoke rather ambiguously in a video address last... MORE