Muscovites were surprised by news reports of a thwarted terrorist attack (Lenta.ru, October 11) planned by militants with ties to the so-called Islamic State (IS). Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said two people taken into custody testified that they were preparing a terrorist attack on... MORE

A recent special operation in Grozny against suspected militants of the so-called Islamic State (IS) took Chechnya’s residents and analysts who follow the situation in the republic by surprise. Readers of Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov’s Instagram postings were the first to learn about the incident.... MORE

Dagestan’s clans have experienced significant shifts after the republic’s political leadership changed in 2013, when Moscow dispatched Ramazan Abdulatipov to rule the territory. The politics in the republic have remained quite fluid despite the removal of many political heavyweights. “Dagestan is one of the few... MORE

For the last several years, numerous Russian politicians, commentators and activists have repeatedly suggested that the ethnic and religious situation in Russia’s Middle Volga region—which includes the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mordvinia, Mari El and Udmurtia—is rapidly deteriorating. And they have argued that as... MORE

The vice president of Afghanistan, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, made an unexpected visit to Grozny earlier this month. Dostum attended celebrations for the birthday of Chechnya’s ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov, surprising all analysts who follow developments in the North Caucasus (Ridus.ru, October 5). The official press... MORE

Russia officially declared its intentions to intervene in the Syrian civil war only in September, but Moscow has been backing President Bashar al-Assad’s regime since the start of the conflict. Perhaps the most interesting part of Russia’s campaign in Syria is the current question of... MORE

The Cossacks in Stavropol region are struggling with the contradictory goals of serving the Russian state and retaining their identity. The Cossacks try to argue that they have a distinct Cossack identity, but at the same time, they proclaim that their sole purpose of existence... MORE

The killing of a Circassian pre-teen, 11-year-old Judy Mohammed Hair Maf, in Damascus on September 26 (Facebook.com, September 26), revitalized efforts of Circassians in the North Caucasus to repatriate their ethnic brethren from Syria. Circassian activist Khazrial Khanakhok held a protest in Maikop, Adygea, to... MORE

Russia’s security services recently launched a special operation across Dagestan, the largest republic of the North Caucasus. Combined forces from the military, police and security services specifically targeted five Dagestani districts—Kurakhsky, Magaramkentsky, Suleiman-Stalsky, Tabasaransky and Khivsky. The special feature of the latest special operation is... MORE

Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may take the war in the Middle East to a new level. The main concern of North Caucasians will be whether Moscow’s involvement in the conflict results in it sending military personnel... MORE