Latest Articles about North Caucasus
Dagestan Gears Up for Change as the End of its President’s Term Nears
The first president of Dagestan, Mukhu Aliev, has about six months left before he is either reappointed for a second term or replaced. The anticipated end of Aliev's presidential term has sparked a remarkable wave of activity in the republic.On April 28, a nephew of... MORE
Moscow and Grozny Maintain the Illusion that the War has Ended
Several weeks after the official announcement of the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya on April 16, little has changed in the region. It is evident that the situation in the republic remains tense. Reports from the region indicate that, notwithstanding the end of... MORE
Policemen in Chechnya Killed in Attacks
A police officer in Chechnya was killed and three others seriously wounded May 3 when militants opened fire on the cars in the republic’s Achkhoi-Martan district, RIA Novosti and The Associated Press (AP) reported on May 4. AP quoted Chechnya’s Interior Ministry as saying that... MORE
Kadyrov Says He’ll Step Down—in 10 Years
In an interview with Die Presse published May 3, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said that he will step down in ten years, when the republic is “flourishing.” Kadyrov told the Austrian newspaper that Chechnya in 2019 will be a “flourishing republic with the most handsome... MORE
Federal Forces in Chechnya Will Reportedly be Reduced and Restructured
Itar-Tass reported on May 6 that the number of federal troops in Chechnya will be cut in half and that the Combined Group of Forces in the North Caucasus will be transformed into a new security body provisionally called the Committee for Maintaining Security in... MORE
Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat Gets a New Leader
For nearly two months after the death of the last leader of Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat, Emir Muaz (Umar Sheikhullaev), who was killed in Leninkent, a suburb of the Dagestani capital Makhachkala, during a special operation on February 5 (https://www.kavkaz.tv/russ/content/2009/02/16/64019.shtml), the Sharia Jamaat operated without a... MORE
Delimkhanov Placed on Interpol Wanted List
Seven Russian citizens, including Adam Delimkhanov, the State Duma deputy and cousin of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, have been put on Interpol’s wanted list at the request of the United Arab Emirates in connection with last month’s murder of former Vostok battalion commander Sulim Yamadaev... MORE
Dagestani Authorities Crack Down on Banned Muslim Organization
Several Russian news agencies reported on April 30 that two people were wounded when police and interior ministry troops in Dagestan were involved in what RIA Novosti called “a friendly-fire shootout” the previous day. The news agency, quoting an anonymous law-enforcement source, reported that the... MORE
Chechnya: Bombings, Shootings and Counter-Terrorist Operations Persist
RIA Novosti reported on April 25 that three explosions and a shooting over the previous 24-hour period in Chechnya had left one soldier dead and three wounded. A law enforcement source told the news agency that a soldier was killed when gunmen fired on a... MORE