Chechnya
Moscow launches military buildup in the North Caucasus to safeguard Sochi Olympics
February 24, 2011On February 17, the Memorial human rights center, the only Russian civil organization that closely monitors the situation in the North Caucasus, published data on attacks against the Russian law enforcement agencies and the army in the volatile region...
Chechnya parliament attackers 'arrived by taxi'
October 20, 2010Three militants who shook Chechnya by attacking its parliament on Tuesday arrived by taxi, Russian media report. It took security forces in the capital Grozny at least 15 minutes to overcome the attackers, who detonated explosives and fired assault rifles...
Russian military reform faces manning crisis
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July 30, 2010By Pavel Felgenhauer Russia’s attempts to build a modern military have run into a roadblock: there are not enough conscripts to fill the ranks. In the fall of 2008, the Russian military was a reservist/mobilization force. According to the Chief...
Kadyrov’s forces accused of aiding the insurgency and obstructing federal forces
July 21, 2010by Valery Dzutsev On July 15, Moskovsky Komsomolets published a revealing report about a bitter conflict between the Russian interior ministry troops stationed in Chechnya and the Chechen Sever (“North”) battalion. Russian interior ministry...
Return of realpolitik portends horrors for North Caucasus
July 21, 2010by Paul Goble The root of the problems in the North Caucasus, Sergey Kovalyev argues, is the result of a broader shift in the paradigms governing politics today away from a commitment to universal human values to a Machiavellian Realpolitik that threatens...
Medvedev and Putin keep a close eye on developments in the North Caucasus
June 16, 2010by Valery Dzutsev On June 14, President Dmitry Medvedev made an unannounced visit to Chechnya. This was his first trip to Chechnya as president of Russia. The trip resembled a state visit, with the Russian president laying flowers at the grave of Akhmad...
Chechnya far from peaceful and far less under Russian control
April 15, 2010By Paul Goble Tomorrow, the Chechen authorities will celebrate the first anniversary of the end of the Russian “counter-terrorist operation” (KTO) there not because Chechnya has become less violent during the intervening months –...
A short history of suicide attacks in the North Caucasus
April 06, 2010By Mairbek Vatchagaev Suicide attacks in Moscow are part of an upsurge in attacks by North Caucasus militants Unfortunately, the terrorist attacks committed in the Moscow metro early in the morning of March 29 were not the first and there is no...
Moscow metro bombings - result of Russia's harsh methods in Chechnya (video)
April 03, 2010Vyacheslav Izmailov, 56, from the independent newspaper "Novaya gazeta," blames Russian authorities and their harsh methods in Chechnya for creating the suicide bombers who blew themselves up in the Moscow metro. BIO: Vyacheslav Izmailov...
Moscow suicide bombers were 17 and 20-Year-old widows
April 02, 2010Russian media name “Black Widows” who allegedly bombed Moscow metro Reports have appeared in Russian media over the last 24 hours identifying the suicide bombers who allegedly carried out the two attacks on the Moscow metro on March 29, which...