Dagestan is the largest republic of the North Caucasus and, at the same time, the region’s most unstable because of the frequent attacks by the armed Islamic opposition movement. The majority of armed militants in the republic currently operate under the flag of the radical... MORE

August was a turbulent month for the armed Islamic resistance movement in the North Caucasus, with the Russian security services carrying out multiple successful operations. According to an independent news source, the Kavkazsky Uzel website, over three dozen people may have been killed or wounded... MORE

Many of Dagestan’s ethnic groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over living together in a republic in which each group feels “cheated” by the others. Few regions of the republic however, have as much of a chance to successfully secede as southern Dagestan, popularly known by... MORE

Brutal police operations in Kabardino-Balkaria in recent months have prompted some experts to conclude that the republic’s governor is building a “police republic.” Yuri Kokov has ruled Kabardino-Balkaria since December 2013, although he was officially appointed governor in October 2014. A career police official, Kokov... MORE

After the scandal following the labeling of the Russian human rights organizations like Memorial, under the leadership of Oleg Orlov, and Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie, under the leadership of Svetlana Gannushkina, as “foreign agents,” it was expected that rights groups in the North Caucasus would be the... MORE

By and large, the policy of the current leadership of Chechnya is to emphasize the positive sides of life both in the republic itself and in the Russian Federation in general. However, Chechen authorities sometimes show their discontent with Russian authorities. In one of the... MORE

The Cossack organization of Adygea is pushing for the introduction of Cossack patrols in the republic like those in neighboring Krasnodar region. Circassians in Adygea, however, are against the move, fearing the Cossacks will gain disproportionate power in the republic. “When a Cossack patrol steps... MORE

Dagestan remains one of the few Russian regions in which local political life still exists despite all of Moscow’s efforts to eliminate it. Tensions are running high in the republic as 23 parties gear up for municipal elections in September. As the largest and most... MORE

The forces trying to prolong the life of the Caucasus Emirate (CE) have suffered a major setback. This third blow in nearly six months may put an end to this organization in the North Caucasus. At the end of 2014, a wave of changes swept... MORE

It did not come as much of a surprise when the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, acknowledged that pro-Russian Chechens were involved in the conflict in Ukraine. This was something that everybody knew, but no Russian official had previously confirmed. In an interview with the... MORE