Latest Articles about The Caucasus
Russia Admits Rebel Fighter Activity in Chechnya
Faced with recurring reports of assaults and assassinations in Grozny and the rest of Chechnya, Russian government officials are being forced to admit that rebel fighter operations have become a reality. As always, the leadership of Russia’s Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense attempts... MORE
Dagestani Jamaat Expands Operations into Azerbaijan
Everything started last August 17 with the explosion at the Abu Bekir mosque in Baku. This mosque is considered a meeting place for those who adhere to the Salafi ideology. A grenade was thrown into the mosque during the evening prayer, killing two people and... MORE
Kadyrov Leads a Special Operation
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov personally organized and led a special operation aimed at members of “illegal armed formations” in Chechnya’s Kurchaloi and Nozhai-Yurt districts on November 14-15, Interfax reported, citing the Chechen presidential press service. The chief of that service, Lemma Gudaev, was quoted as... MORE
Islamic Militants Ratchet Up Attacks in Dagestan
Dagestan has seen an uptick in violence between security forces and suspected Islamic militants during the past week. A police officer was killed in the village of Leninkent near the capital Makhachkala on November 19. Interfax quoted an unnamed spokesperson for Dagestan’s Interior Ministry as... MORE
New Ingush President Shows Signs that he’ll Take a Different Approach
Prague Watchdog on November 19 published a piece that warmly praised Ingushetia’s new president, General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who replaced the wildly unpopular Murat Zyazikov (North Caucasus Weekly, October 31). The website called Yevkurov “an idealist in general’s stripes.” “From the very first moment of his... MORE
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
At dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the... MORE
Azerbaijan-Georgia Corridor: Growing Transit Volumes Bolster Security
Russia’s invasion of Georgia severely disrupted the operation of the energy transit corridor during August and September, causing revenue losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the oil and gas companies. Physical damage to the corridor, however, turned out to... MORE
Azerbaijan Hosts Energy Summit
Presidents and other senior officials from 14 countries in the Caspian, Black Sea, Central European and Baltic regions, as well as U.S. and EU delegations, attended an energy summit on November 14 in Baku. The event signaled political support for connecting Caspian basin oil and... MORE
A Breathing Spell for Political Reforms in Georgia
n the aftermath of the war with Russia, the Georgian leadership is refocusing its attention on the development of the political system in a broader institutional framework. The main initiatives in this regard originate from the top and are set for easy passage by the... MORE
Georgia’s Radical Opposition: Regime Change Today, Tomorrow, and Forever
Five radical opposition parties restarted a campaign for regime change in Georgia on November 7, with a ritualized rally outside parliament and a march on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue. These small parties are not represented in parliament, though several of them are headed by past and... MORE