Latest Articles about North Caucasus
Military Action Underway Across the Northeast Caucasus
For the first time in recent years, joint military and police operations targeting fighters of the armed resistance are underway simultaneously in all three republics of the Northeast Caucasus: Dagestan, the Chechen Republic and Ingushetia. The operation in Chechnya involves the troops from the defense... MORE
Top Investigator Murdered in Dagestan
The deputy head of the investigative committee of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office in Dagestan, Seifudin Kaziakhmedov, was shot dead in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala on May 21. Agence France-Presse reported that he was shot six times by an unknown assailant in broad daylight. The Moscow... MORE
Memorial: Growing Number of Young Chechens Joining Rebels
The Memorial human rights group says that pressure by law enforcement bodies in Chechnya on youth in the republic has only increased since Russian President Dmitry Medvedev officially announced an end to the ten-year-long counter-terrorist operation in the republic last month, and that this pressure... MORE
Fighting Continues in Ingushetia and Chechnya after Authorities Launch Joint Operation
Kavkazky Uzel on May 21 quoted law enforcement officials as saying that a winter base for Chechen rebels had been destroyed between the settlements of Neftyanoe and Eshilkhatoi in the mountains of Chechnya’s southeastern Vedeno district, while another large rebel base was discovered on the... MORE
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