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Latest Articles about North Caucasus
Videotape Shows Basaev And Maskhadov Displaying Seized Ingush Weapons
A new videotape showing Chechen and Ingush insurgents led by warlord Shamil Basaev in a Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) warehouse in Ingushetia has become topic number one in the Russian media (kavkazcenter.com, July 26). This tape was made in June, when between 200 and... MORE
Kremlin Unarmed As Chechen Rebels Strengthen
Recent developments suggest that, after nearly ten years, the Kremlin still is unable to respond to attacks by separatists bent on an independent Chechnya. First, Chechen rebels staged a raid in neighboring Ingushetia on June 21. Several hundred rebels, joined by Ingush gunmen, essentially seized... MORE
Kvashnin’s Future Hangs In The Balance Ñagain
Russia has prepared a new combat regiment for deployment in Ingushetia. The regiment consists of 600 servicemen, who joined under a contract after completing their military training in the North Caucasus Internal Troops District. The 126th Regiment of the Interior Troops (MVD) has been specifically... MORE
Maskhadov Calls For Talks; Zyazikov Says He’s Game
In an interview published by two separatist websites on July 5-6, Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov reiterated that he is ready for negotiations with the federal authorities, while claiming that his forces have the means to fight on for years, should the Kremlin choose to... MORE
Professionalizing The Russian Airborne Forces: Will It Help In Chechnya?
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), already with a powerful say in the shape and planning of counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya, has disclosed serious concerns about remarks made by Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev on Al-Jazeera television. The FSB believes that future militant attacks may... MORE
Newspaper Doubts Ingushetia Raid Organizer Was Killed
Russian media on June 28 reported that Magomed Evloev, an ethnic Ingush whom federal authorities claim led the June 21-22 attacks in Ingushetia, was killed during a special operation in the village of Dalakovo, near Nazran. Ren TV on June 28 aired footage of what... MORE
Has Moscow Lost Control Of The North Caucasus?
As the Kremlin prepares to install its latest handpicked president in Chechnya, it faces the prospect of losing control over the North Caucasus entirely. Last week's brazen assault on law-enforcement agencies in Ingushetia caught local police and secret services off guard and revealed the incompetence... MORE
Observers Wonder How Ingushetia Gunmen Went Undetected
Russian authorities have revised upwards casualty figures from the June 21-22 attacks by insurgents in Ingushetia. The republic's President Murat Zyazikov told reporters in Ingushetia's capital Magas that 97 people, including 27 civilians, were killed and 105 people, including 38 civilians, were wounded in the... MORE
Pankisi Emerges As A Litmus Test In Georgia-russian Relations
The much-discussed Pankisi gorge involving Chechen refugees has reappeared on the agenda of Georgian-Russian relations. On a visit to Georgia on June 8-9, a delegation of the Russian federal migration service led by Boris Yunashin, vainly attempted to persuade an estimated 2,000 Chechen refugees situated... MORE
Baltic States’ Political Landscape And European Elections
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania held on June 13 their first-ever elections for the Brussels-based European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union (EU). Fortuitously but fittingly, the election date coincided with the annual observances of the Day of Memory and Hope (June 14), when... MORE