On May 15, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, visited Kabardino-Balkaria for the first time. He was greeted in the republic with great pomp. The top Russian Orthodox cleric consecrated the Cathedral of Mary Magdalene and held a liturgy in Nalchik, the republic’s... MORE

The recent decision of the Dagestani Spiritual Board of Muslims to participate in the parliamentary elections in the republic has reverberated across the region. The board plans to use the political party Narod Protiv Corruptsii (People Against Corruption) as their electoral vehicle. The first deputy... MORE

A ship carrying United States military equipment arrived at the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti, on May 5. The equipment, which included US M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, was ferried from the Bulgarian port of Varna and will take part... MORE

Over the past several years, there have not been many reports from Chechnya regarding insurgent activities in the republic. But while the Chechen government claims the republic has overcome the Islamist armed underground, insurgency-related incidents still sometimes occur, which means that militants still exist in... MORE

The Dagestani authorities’ reassurances that the intensity of rebel violence in the republic is declining are partly true, but there is also another trend in how the government is presenting the situation. The authorities are trying to ignore the activities of rebels and portraying their... MORE

At the start of May, an unusual trial concluded in Dagestan. Regional authorities charged the republic’s former deputy prime minister, Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov, with fraud and sentenced him to five years in prison and a hefty fine. Investigators said he had unlawfully privatized one million meters... MORE

Serious renewed violence broke out between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan last month (April 2–5, 2016), with fighting in the separatist Azerbaijani region of Karabakh reaching levels not seen since the ceasefire of 1994. One the distinctive features of the recent escalation, which... MORE

The Dagestan Days festival opens in Baku this week (May 12–13), during which ties between that republic in the Russian North Caucasus and Azerbaijan will be celebrated and new business deals announced (Azertag.az, May 7). However, relations between these two Muslim republics are increasingly tense.... MORE

Yana Amelina, a well-known Russian journalist in the Caucasus who heads the Caucasian Geopolitical Club, unexpectedly lashed out at Circassian activists for their attempts to “revive” the Circassian question. According to Amelina, the Circassian question was already “over” at the time of the 2014 Sochi... MORE

Russian media coverage of the Islamic State (IS) continues to expand. Earlier, the Russian press primarily covered the Caucasus Emirate, Hizb ut-Tahrir and other Islamic movements. Now, all Islam-related themes are marked with the label “Islamic State.” No reliable data is available on how many... MORE