On April 4, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that a group of State Duma deputies are preparing to call on the country’s president and government to reform or even abolish the federal districts in the Russian Federation. Removing the federal districts from the Russian... MORE

Most ethnic minorities around the world are generally appreciative of support from other ethnic minorities, viewing such solidarity as useful to their cause. But there are exceptions, and one of them is now very much on public view: the Circassian diaspora in Turkey, which may... MORE

On March 31, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recreating the Russian government agency for nationalities. The agency will implement state policy in the areas of ethnic and religious relations. In particular, the agency’s activities are aimed at “strengthening the unity of the multinational people... MORE

North Caucasian militants who recently pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his so-called Islamic State (see EDM, January 8) have experienced their first losses. It happened during a counter-terrorist operation conducted on March 31 in the city of Khasavyurt, near the administrative border with... MORE

Many Chechen supporters of the Islamic State have flocked to the Middle East. And as their numbers and fervency have grown, this has placed at a disadvantage other Chechen commanders in the Middle East who have refused to subordinate themselves to the self-styled new caliphate.... MORE

On March 19–20, a conference on the Russian language was held in the city of Stavropol (Dagminobr.ru, March 23). Like almost all conferences on language issues, it became quite politicized. While Russian officials pushed for Russian’s status as the country’s state language, the North Caucasian... MORE

A struggle over history books appears to be unfolding in the North Caucasus. Moscow’s envoy to the region attacked North Caucasus universities for “falsifying history” at a meeting of governors of the North Caucasus Federal District, held in the city of Stavropol on March 20,... MORE

Chechen special services operating under the auspices of Ramzan Kadyrov and trained by an ex-major of the Russian security services’ Alpha group, Daniil Martynov, keep expanding their activities to new areas. Martynov helped Kadyrov to rid himself of his special bodyguards from the Russian Federal... MORE

During the past 16 years of battling militants in the North Caucasus, Russia’s security services and police have generally avoided taking prisoners among the insurgents. This tendency was recently displayed once again in an operation conducted in Makhachkala. According to the official version of events,... MORE

On March 18, Russia marked the first anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. The extent of the celebrations in southern Russia varied dramatically, according to Kavkazsky Uzel news agency reporters who were on the scene. Twenty people gathered for celebrations in Sochi, but about 13,000... MORE