In his budget address for 2012-2014 on June 29, President Dmitry Medvedev designated decentralization as one of the Russian Federation’s state priorities. The Russian leader also called for privatization, lowering corporate taxes, the overall diminishing of the state’s role in economic activities and other measures... MORE

After the colonization of the North Caucasus by Russian troops in the eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries, Russia established Cossack settlements as a form of influence on the local populations. Serving as fortresses, these quasi-military settlements were tasked with protecting the lowlands from highlanders. In other... MORE

On June 26, the Lifenews.ru website quoted “experts” and North Caucasus law-enforcement sources as claiming that Doku Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader and “emir” of the Caucasus Emirate, had received medical treatment in Turkey and returned to the North Caucasus. The website said that Umarov’s... MORE

On June 27, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev declared an unprecedented boost to Dagestan’s police forces. On a brief visit to Makhachkala, Nurgaliev announced the creation of the 7,000-man joint police, military and security services group to fight the rebels in the republic. The largest... MORE

On June 21, the Russian Public Chamber’s working group on the North Caucasus held a public hearing on the problems of divided peoples who involuntarily found themselves separated by state boundaries. The Circassian issue was one of the most discussed themes, as a majority of... MORE

A source in Russia’s interior ministry was quoted on June 24 as saying that the number of security personnel killed in a battle with an estimated 30 militants in a wooded area near the village of Kuznetskovka in Dagestan’s Kizlyar district had reached 13. The... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev continues to surprise everyone with his management reshuffle in the Russian interior ministry. This time it involved the North Caucasus as well. Major-General Aleksandr Trofimov, 48, has been appointed Ingushetia’s Interior Minister. He had, since May 2009, held the position of... MORE

On June 21, unusually fierce clashes between government forces and the insurgents took place in northern Dagestan’s Kizlyar district. The security services and the rebels fought each other throughout the day in a wooded area near the village of Kuznetsovka. The government forces suspended the... MORE

The issue of official support for “traditional Islam” to counterbalance radical Islam once again emerged as a pressing theme following the June 7 murder of the Head of the Institute of Theology and International Affairs, Maksud Sadikov, in Makhachkala, Dagestan. Yet, Islam cannot itself be... MORE

The International Economic Forum took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, over June 16-18. Delegations from the North Caucasian republics attended the event and a special session “North Caucasus: Unlocking the Potential” took place on June 18. From the statements of Russian officials, it transpired that... MORE