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Latest Articles about North Caucasus
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Dagestani Leadership Struggles With Countering Islamic State’s Propaganda Offensive
Despite the relative success of the Syrian regime in stopping the advance of the armed opposition (with help from the Russian expeditionary force and Iranian-backed Shia militias), the war-torn country still remains a magnet for foreign Islamic volunteers. Over 1,800 Dagestanis from the Russian Federation... MORE
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Moscow Promoting Canal System Linking Turkey and Central Asia Via Russian Territory
In the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin considered building a canal between the Black and Caspian seas because the Volga–Don Canal lacked the depth to handle large-capacity ships. But World War II forced him to suspend and then abandon that dream. Now, President Vladimir Putin... MORE
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Chechen Officials and Ingush Activists Agree to Meet to Discuss Border Issues
Chechen officials and Ingush activists reached an agreement to hold negotiations on the contentious administrative border between Chechnya and Ingushetia. On April 25, the Ingush Mehk-Khel movement (a.k.a. Council of Elders of Ingushetia) publicly appealed to the speaker of the Chechen Parliament, Magomed Daudov, via... MORE
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Brother of Former Dagestani Governor Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Term
On March 22, a Moscow court sentenced the brother of a former governor of Dagestan to 12 years in prison for bribery and large-scale fraud. Additionally, the court ordered the defendant to pay the government an eight million ruble (around $100,000) fine. Radzhab Abdulatipov had... MORE
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Makhachkala Experiences First Special Operation in Five Years
On March 11, government forces in Makhachkala, Dagestan, killed a suspected rebel. According to official sources, the suspect had been plotting a terrorist attack on government agencies. Reportedly, the authorities found a machine gun, ammunition and an improvised explosive device (IED) at the site of... MORE
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Anniversary of Stalinist Deportations Shines Renewed Spotlight on Unresolved Chechen-Dagestani Territorial Dispute
An estimated 10,000 people gathered in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan, on February 23, to commemorate the anniversary of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Chechens in 1944. The deputy speaker of the Chechen parliament, Shaid Zhamaldaev, attended the event, but no high-ranking Dagestani... MORE
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Moscow’s Delay of 2020 Census Opens Way for Circassian Promotion of Common Identity
For the second time, ostensibly out of concern that census takers might further spread the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian government has postponed the 2020 all-Russian enumeration, this time until September 2021 (Natsionalnyy Aktsent, February 9). That decision may, indeed, reduce the epidemiological dangers, but it... MORE
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Gazprom Wants to Abandon Money-Losing Gas Distribution Obligations in Dagestan
Russian energy giant Gazprom wants to completely abandon its natural gas retail sales and distribution business in Dagestan because those operations bring the state-owned firm only losses. The company has asked the Russian government to relieve it of its distributor obligations, and it is prepared... MORE
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Poisonings of Activists in the North Caucasus: A Low Threshold for Chemical Weapons Use Inside Russia?
On January 27, a reputable team of investigators from the Bellingcat organization published a report regarding the activities of the Russian security services’ poison squad. Investigators linked several Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives and civilian chemists to the death of journalist and activist Timur Kuashev... MORE
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Grozny’s Restoration of Chechen Place Names a Serious Threat to the Kremlin
Many Russians celebrated the restoration of Russian place names and dropping their Soviet toponyms in the 1990s, seeing that process as opening the way forward from Communist rule; and more recently, they have supported further such changes in the names of streets, airports and other... MORE