Caucasus

The Non-Hybrid War

October 9, 2015

Sociologist Denis Sokolov, an anthropologist and senior researcher for the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, has traveled to the Russian Caucasus and the Donbass to interview warlords to find out what factors sustain them. He finds not so much confirmation of the poverty theory of the “root causes of terrorism” but […]

Chechen Residents: Dozens of Those Killed in Battle in Ukraine Have Been Delivered to the Republic.

May 30, 2014

Local residents say that several dozen residents of Chechnya, who took part in the fighting in Ukraine and died in the Donetsk region, have been brought back to their homeland in the last few days, giving numbers from 35 to 40-45 dead. The Republic’s security agencies declined to comment on these reports, writes a correspondent […]

Putin Blames Circassian Protests on the West Amid Arrests

February 17, 2014

Speaking at a meeting with participants of the public council to prepare for the Sochi Olympics earlier in the week, President Vladimir Putin called “the Circassian factor” an “atavism of the theory of deterrence,” and an “instrument of the cold war.” “Back during the ‘cold war,’ the ‘deterrence theory’ was born, aimed at deterring the […]

Terrorist Attack in Volgograd Can Be Traced Back to Pyatigorsk

January 3, 2014

On December 29, there was a new terrorist attack in Volgograd. A suicide bomber blew herself up near the passenger screening point at the city railway station, when she saw that a police officer was running towards her. At 14:00 Moscow time, 18 were reported dead, 40 more were injured. Now the security services are […]

Abdulatipov: “We Have Strengthened Our Control Over Terrorists’ Famlilies”

The leader of the Republic of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, said in an interview with Izvestia that at its meeting the anti-terrorist commission made a number of decisions in connection with the terrorist attacks in Volgograd. “We’ve just had a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Commission of the Republic of Dagestan, mourned the victims, and expressed condolences […]

Russian Security Expert: FSB Not Equipped to Fight Terrorism

January 2, 2014

A massive security operation has been launched in Volgograd following the December 29th and 30th bombings in the city that have claimed at least 34 lives. Hundreds have been detained, mostly migrants from North Caucasus. With the Sochi Olympics only 5 weeks away, a Russian security expert warns that the FSB, The Federal Security Service […]

Bastrykin’s Humiliation

December 18, 2013

The man recently installed to head Chechnya’s Investigative Committee — a body tantamount to Russia’s FBI — has been sacked by Vladimir Putin in a high-profile embarrassment for the Committee’s overall head, Alexander Bastrykin. It appears that Sergei Bobrov has been relieved of his duties for attempting to do his job properly in Kadyrov’s murky […]

DNA Testing for Disloyalty

November 12, 2013

A campaign has been launched in Dagestan to forcibly extract DNA samples from “unreliable” citizens, particularly Salafists. The campaign seems to be primarily aimed at women, in the wake of the October 21st bus bombing in Volgograd, conducted by the spouse of an established Dagestani militant. There are concerns that the terrorism threat is growing […]

Latest Developments in the Terrorist Attack in Volgograd

On October 21, a bus bombing killed six people in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad. The perpetrator of the crime was, according to Russian authorities, Naida Asiyalova, wife of 22 year old Dmitry Sokolov, a known Dagestani militant and bomb maker. This incident was the latest chapter in what is essentially an insurgency moving at a near-glacial […]