After many years of Chechen government appeals, Russia’s Ministry of Defense finally agreed to start drafting Chechen conscripts into the ranks of the Russian armed forces (vedomosti.ru, September 19). This is arguably the development Ramzan Kadyrov has most wanted since the counter-terrorist operation regime in... MORE

The ceasefire in Donbas (eastern Ukrainian region encompassing Luhansk and Dontesk provinces) between Ukrainian and pro-Russia forces, announced on September 5, has been solidified by an additional agreement to withdraw artillery, multiple rocket launch systems (MRLS) and other heavy equipment from the front line. The... MORE

During the Third Plenum of the 18th Party Congress last November, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced the abolition of Re-education Through Labor (RTL), or laojiao, the largest formal institution of administrative detention, which enabled Chinese police to incarcerate an individual for up to four... MORE

In an interview with the Kavkazskaya Politika website, Valery Khatazhukov, a well-known civil rights activist based in Kabardino-Balkaria, detailed his disappointment with the way the Russian government treats the North Caucasus. “Moscow constructs its governance system in the ethnic republics of the North Caucasus on... MORE

The shape of any political settlement will depend on whether Russian troops and paramilitary personnel with their weaponry are evacuated from what is legally Ukraine’s territory, or remain deployed there. Point 9 of the September 20 memorandum is unfulfillable as formulated (and it is hard... MORE

On September 20 in Minsk, negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)—which together constitute the Tripartite Contact Group—as well as the Russia-installed Donetsk and Luhansk leaders finalized an agreement on the main elements of an armistice in the ongoing... MORE

On September 14, 2014, Crimea held its first post-annexation local elections. Since after the takeover, all the political posts of the Crimean parliament were filled with self-appointed actors. For pro-Russia groups, these so-called democratic elections to the local legislatures of Crimea and Sevastopol as well... MORE

Utter confusion surrounds Ukraine’s just-adopted law on the “special procedure of local self-administration in individual districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.” Pursuant to the September 5 ceasefire protocol, President Petro Poroshenko initiated this law, his administration drafted it, and the parliament adopted it on... MORE

On September 18, the authorities in Dagestan closed down the Gimry tunnel, citing the ongoing counter-terrorist operation in Untsukul district. A counter-terrorist operation was also introduced in the adjacent Buinaksk district on September 17. Locals estimated that over 1,000 military personnel blocked the areas around... MORE

Ukraine’s law on the “special procedure of local self-administration in individual districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces” (Ukraiynska Pravda, September 16; see Part One of this article) seeks to retain at least some means of influence and avenues of dialogue between Kyiv and local... MORE