Someone looking at a map of the Caucasus would be surprised to see that only three transportation links cut across the Main Caucasus Ridge connecting the North and South Caucasus. This was not always the case. Prior to the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus... MORE

Dagestan’s gross regional product is a little more than $2,000 per capita. By many economic indicators, Russian economists say, Dagestan is not only far behind many other Russian regions, but is at the level of some of the world’s poorest nations. Economic underdevelopment has been... MORE

Local Muslims in Russia’s Krasnodar region say the authorities there have imposed an unofficial ban on the construction of mosques. Multiple appeals by the Muslims there remain unanswered and the experts warn that the government’s attempt to contain the spread of Islam in the region... MORE

The Khankala military base near Grozny recently hosted a gathering celebrating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus. Among those who attended the event, which undeservedly failed to attract the attention of Russia’s media, were the... MORE

After many years of Chechen government appeals, Russia’s Ministry of Defense finally agreed to start drafting Chechen conscripts into the ranks of the Russian armed forces (vedomosti.ru, September 19). This is arguably the development Ramzan Kadyrov has most wanted since the counter-terrorist operation regime in... MORE

In an interview with the Kavkazskaya Politika website, Valery Khatazhukov, a well-known civil rights activist based in Kabardino-Balkaria, detailed his disappointment with the way the Russian government treats the North Caucasus. “Moscow constructs its governance system in the ethnic republics of the North Caucasus on... MORE

On September 18, the authorities in Dagestan closed down the Gimry tunnel, citing the ongoing counter-terrorist operation in Untsukul district. A counter-terrorist operation was also introduced in the adjacent Buinaksk district on September 17. Locals estimated that over 1,000 military personnel blocked the areas around... MORE

Chechens have been quite active in the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the past two to three years. Chechens have formed several groups that made waves in a country that is alien to them, both culturally and linguistically, as... MORE

Persistent rumors have existed for some time about the involvement of Chechens in pro-Russian military groups fighting in eastern Ukraine (see EDM, July 18). A significant portion of the information about Chechens fighting in Ukraine was unverified; indeed, it sometimes seemed the Ukrainian army was... MORE

On September 7, representatives of the Turkish government-owned company Caykur met with North Ossetia’s Prime Minister Sergei Takoev to discuss an investment project in the Russian republic. Caykur applied for a swath of land in North Ossetia on which to build a tea packing plant... MORE