Latest Articles about The Caucasus
Kadyrov Presses Ahead with Libel Suit Against the Head of the Memorial Human Rights Center
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, stated on April 28 that the renowned human rights activist Natalya Estemirova had not helped to protect people. “I defend human rights here in the republic,” he said, adding “She did not help us.” Kadyrov spoke via a TV... MORE
Kadyrov Exploits Ties With Moscow To Build Islamic State
On April 28, 2011, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report. A full chapter concerns the Chechen Republic—the only Russian region to which the report pays special attention.The report emphasizes that since Ramzan Kadyrov has been appointed to head... MORE
Inconsistencies Inhibit Moscow’s Attempts to Boost the North Caucasus Republics’ Economies
On May 4, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin presided over a government meeting on the socio-economic development of the North Caucasus. Putin announced the decision to allocate nearly $2 billion for an investment protection fund for this risk-prone territory. In addition the government corporation for... MORE
Rebel Group Escapes Security Forces in Chechnya
The Kavkazsky Uzel website today (May 6) quoted a Chechen law-enforcement source as saying that a group of up to 15 militants spotted earlier this week in a wooded mountainous area between the villages of Shalazhi and Roshin-Chu in Chechnya’s Urus-Martan district managed to escape... MORE
Rebel Group Escapes Security Forces in Chechnya
The Kavkazsky Uzel website today (May 6) quoted a Chechen law-enforcement source as saying that a group of up to 15 militants spotted earlier this week in a wooded mountainous area between the villages of Shalazhi and Roshin-Chu in Chechnya’s Urus-Martan district managed to escape... MORE
Moscow Kills Rebel Leaders in Kabardino-Balkaria, but was it a Mortal Blow?
April was an extremely successful month for the Russian security forces in the North Caucasus, following the liquidation of Israpil Validzhanov, the leader of the Dagestani jamaat on April 18, and of Emir Mukhannad, a well-known Arab volunteer in the ranks of the Chechen armed... MORE
Shapsug Group Uses Sochi Olympics to Extract Concessions from Moscow
On April 30, ethnic Shapsug representatives held a conference in Sochi. The Shapsugs are a tiny remnant of the numerous Circassian tribes who were once the sole inhabitants of the Sochi region and much of the western North Caucasus plains before the Russians overran the... MORE
Regime Changers And Constitutional Parties In The Georgian Opposition
With the onset of warm weather, radical opposition groups in Tbilisi plan their seasonal regime-change campaign. Judging by their latest declarations, their tactic remains unchanged since 2007: instigating disorder in the capital’s streets to provoke the authorities into using force, hoping thereby to de-legitimize the... MORE
Death of Insurgent Leaders in Kabardino-Balkaria Unlikely to Halt Attacks
On April 29, the Russian security services wiped out the leadership of the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria in a single stroke. Ten rebels, including rebel leader Asker Dzhappuev (aka Abdullah), deputy leader Kazbek Tashuev (aka Abdul Dzhabbar) and Ratmir Shameyev (aka Zakaria) were killed in a... MORE
Amir Muhannad: The Last of Chechnya’s Arab Volunteers
The late Amir Muhannad, the North Caucasus’ recently killed Arab militant leader, hailed from the Medina area in Saudi Arabia’s western Hejaz region. Muhannad, born in 1969, was reportedly shot to death in a clash with security forces in the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt on... MORE