The Memorial human rights center has monitored the situation in the North Caucasus since the start of the first Russian-Chechen War, in 1994. Memorial’s latest report, which covers the past two and a half years in the North Caucasus, concludes that the government is pursuing... MORE

The Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld, on June 10, the earlier decision of the city court mandating changing the ownership of the prominent Georgian opposition TV channel, Rustavi 2. The media outlet, which is closely connected to the formerly ruling United National Movement (UNM), belongs... MORE

Work on the Southern Gas Corridor’s (SGC) implementation intensified to an unprecedented degree in recent months. On March 17 and May 17, the ground breaking ceremonies of two key constituent parts of the Southern Corridor—the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)—were held, respectively,... MORE

The end of May–beginning of June turned out to be quite a tense period in Ingushetia, with the armed Islamist opposition suddenly becoming more active than in previous years. The authorities announced the elimination of suspected militants, although it is hard to verify whether the... MORE

Vladimir Putin’s surprise decision, in April, to establish the Russian National Guard attracted wide attention from analysts (RIA Novosti, April 6). Much of the analysis focused on the personality at the head of the new force—Viktor Zolotov, the long-time chief of Putin’s body guards (Openrussia.org,... MORE

Chechnya’s governor, Ramzan Kadyrov, continues to capture the news headlines in Russia. On May 30, a delegation from the Russian Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation set out to visit all the North Caucasus republics. Among all the region’s governors, only... MORE

A well-known and popular Salafist preacher, Khamzat Chumakov, continues to spark controversy in Ingushetia. Chumakov responds to accusations made against him in Chechnya with lengthy rebuttals and comments made during his sermons. Chumakov’s followers regard him as an independent Muslim figure and attend his Friday... MORE

On May 21, Russian media reported that a group of young people with ties to the so-called Islamic State (IS) had been detained. According to the police, “the group consisted of four residents of Ingushetia and was established to carry out attacks on representatives of... MORE

The periodic escalation of violence in and around the separatist Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh routinely raises concerns about this conflict’s threat to regional energy security and pipeline infrastructure. However, few commentaries analyze this issue’s broader geopolitical implications in any detail. The intense fighting between the... MORE