On September 5, President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with a delegation from Karachaevo-Cherkessia, headed by the republican governor, Rashid Temrezov. Besides the top republican official, a teacher, a farmer, a businessman and a scholar took part in the meeting. This type of meeting with... MORE

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s talk at the Russian Foreign Ministry on September 3, when he powerfully stressed the need for his country to strengthen and consolidate its “soft power” (mid.ru, September 3), may look to an outside observer like an optimistic signal and a long-awaited... MORE

A Georgian news agency surprised everybody on August 28 with the announcement that the country’s armed forces had launched a special operation against an armed group near the Russian-Georgian border. It was presumed that the armed group had crossed from Russia into Georgia in the... MORE

On August 28, one of the most respected spiritual leaders of Dagestan of the past century, Said Atsaev, was murdered in the village of Chirkei, located 25 kilometers northwest of the city of Buinaksk. Better known as Sufi Sheikh Said Efendi Chirkeisky, Atsaev was a... MORE

During the mass public protest demonstrations in Moscow that began last December, one of the most popular public slogans has been “Putin—vor [thief]!” This catchphrase unites opposition forces that in most cases have little else in common: pro-Western liberals, Marxist leftists and pro-Nazi nationalists—the three... MORE

In August, Circassian activists in Kabardino-Balkaria announced that the republic had filled its quota of Circassian refugees coming from Syria. The leader of the Peryt civic organization, Akhmed Stash, told a reporter from the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website that refugees arriving from Syria were... MORE

The end of summer has instantly switched Russian politics to full gear as events and challenges are crowding the agenda and confusing the trajectory of the oscillating but not dissipating crisis. The Borodino battlefield outside Moscow saw over the weekend celebrations of the 200th anniversary... MORE

On August 19, a suicide bomber attacked the funeral of a police officer in the village of Sagopshi in Ingushetia’s Malgobek district. Seven police officers were killed in the attack and at least 15 other people were wounded, nine of them seriously. Ilez Korigov, the... MORE

Four years after launching the reform of Russia’s conventional Armed Forces, which many wrongly equate with “military reform,” a bleak picture is emerging from within the military concerning its progress to date. The Russian Ministry of Finance recently published figures related to defense and security... MORE

At the conclusion of the London Olympics, Russians suddenly realized that the Russian national team had a non-Russian face. Olympic sports were much revered in the Soviet Union and are highly regarded in contemporary Russia. They have often been seen as a battleground with the... MORE