On December 8, a huge explosion in the Caucasian republic of Dagestan damaged a segment of the pipeline for exporting natural gas from Russia to Azerbaijan. Local security officials almost immediately admitted that the blast was an act of sabotage. On December 9, NTV quoted... MORE

--ONE CIVILIAN KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN ROCKET ATTACK Kavkazky Uzel, citing the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, reported on December 14 that a brother and sister were being treated in Grozny's Hospital No. 9 for serious wounds they received on December 3, when a helicopter gunship fired... MORE

After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania made statements that pointed toward a forthcoming reorganization.... MORE

Ten years ago, Russia was slowly slipping into a quagmire, which seemed shallow at the time but proved to be a bottomless "black hole." Seeking to cover one miscalculation with another blunder, the Kremlin applied increasingly blunt force to the rebellious and conflict-ridden republic of... MORE

Two events underline the trans-national element in Islamist militancy, and cast light on hitherto unexpected distribution of Chechen militants. On December 2 a Chechen national was killed in Pakistan in a military operation in the south-west provincial capital of Quetta. Following a tip-off from a... MORE

On December 7, Izvestiya published a second article by its special correspondent in Chechnya, Vadim Rechkalov, addressing the issue of why Russia's special services have been unable to catch rebel warlord Shamil Basaev during the ten years since the start of the first Chechen war.... MORE

Two thousand demonstrators marched in Istanbul, Turkey to protest President Vladimir Putin's visit to Ankara, Newsru.com reported on December 7. The demonstrators carried placards reading "Murderer Putin!" and "Get Out of Turkey!" A group of protesters from among Turkey's large community with roots in the... MORE

Izvestia on December 6 ran the first of several reports by special correspondent Vadim Rechkalov attempting to explain why, ten years after the December 9, 1994 decree signed by then President Boris Yeltsin authorizing the use of all means necessary to halt the activities of... MORE

Chechenpress reported on December 5 that relatives of Chechen rebel leader had been taken hostage the previous day by "Russian occupiers and their armed accomplices from among the Kadyrovtsy" – an apparent reference to members of Chechen First Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov's presidential security service.... MORE

In the past decade, the Chechen war has had a profound and total impact on life in Russia. Its direct consequences include the death of thousands of human victims, enormous material expenditures that can be counted in millions of rubles, and the devastation of the... MORE