Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - februari 2012

• 2012-03-01
• Europa in de wereld

6 februari 2012

Troops beefed up in Dagestan: (i) Kommersant (Saturday's issue) reports on the strengthening of the grouping of Interior Troops servicemen, police and FSB officers in Dagestan. Head of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov called the situation in Dagestan "complex" but "stable". According to the Dagestan Interior Ministry, about 12 militant groups numbering up to 300 militants are active in the republic. (ii) The Moscow Times (Reuters) reports that in a video, North Caucasus militant leader Doku Umarov ordered militants to avoid attacks on citizens as "the Russian population does not support Putin." (Kommersant, MT)

9 februari 2012

Three militants killed in Kabardino-Balkaria: (i) Three militants were killed in two police operations on Tuesday in Kabardino-Balkaria. (ii) Nezavisimaya Gazeta does not rule out that the creation of a tourism cluster in the Northern Caucasus could destabilize the situation in the region due to competition between local entrepreneurs. (Kommersant, NG)

13 februari 2012

Formation of 'green' party announced: At its congress on Saturday, the Russian Ecological Movement decided to support Vladimir Putin in the forthcoming Presidential election and to transform the Movement into a 'green' party. (Kommersant, Novye Izvestia)

Four militants killed in Dagestan: Four militants were killed in an operation which started on Friday in Dagestan's Karabudakhkent district. One solder was killed and another one was wounded in the operation. According to Kommersant, one of the militants who had been killed is the son of Dagestan militant leader Ibragimkhalil Daudov. (Kommersant)

14 februari 2012

Three policemen killed on Chechnya-Dagestan administrative border: (i) Three police officers were killed and six others were wounded in a clash with militants yesterday on the administrative border between Chechnya and Dagestan. (ii) Deputy mufti of the Stavropol territory Kurman Ismailov was killed in a car bombing yesterday in Pyatigorsk. (Gazeta.ru, Lenta.ru; Ekho Moskvy

15 februari 2012

Dagestan militant leader killed: Law enforcement agencies on Tuesday said that Dagestan militant leader Ibragimkhalil Daudov (aka 'Saleh') had been found dead. According to media reports, Daudov died of wounds he sustained in an operation in Dagestan's Karabudakhkent district on 10-11 February. His son was killed in the operation. Kommersant notes that 'Saleh' was one of the initiators of the creation of the so-called 'Imarat Kavkaz' ('Caucasus Emirate') currently headed by Doku Umarov. (Interfax, Kommersant)

16 februari 2012

Number of terrorist attacks in Russia declined last year: (i) Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and head of the National Antiterrorist Committee, Alexander Bortnikov, said on Wednesday that the number of terrorism related crimes in Russia declined by about 50% in 2011 compared with 2010, adding that 94 terrorist attacks were prevented last year. (ii) Four servicemen were killed in a clash with militants on the administrative border between Chechnya and Dagestan on Wednesday. (RG)

17 februari 2012

Thirteen policemen killed on Chechnya-Dagestan administrative border: According to latest reports, 13 policemen have been killed and 17 others were wounded in clashes with militants on the administrative border between Chechnya and Dagestan in the past several days. Electronic media report on an ongoing operation against militants in Kabardino-Balkaria. At least one serviceman was wounded in the operation. (Gazeta.ru, Interfax, Newsru.com)

20 februari 2012

Seventeen policemen killed in North Caucasus: Seventeen law enforcement officers were reportedly killed and 24 others were wounded in a four-day operation on the administrative border between Chechnya and Dagestan last week. Seven members of a militant gang led by Magarbi Timiraliyev (aka 'Abudar')were killed in the mountains in Chechnya during the operation. The operation took place against the background of the ongoing Presidential campaign in Russia. However, some experts say that counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus are unlikely to influence the electorate in the region. In a separate operation last week, three militants were killed in Kabardino-Balkaria. One of the militants has been identified as Timur Khuzhokov. Police said he had been involved in attacks on officials and law enforcement officers. (ii) At a Caucasus forum of NGOs on Saturday, Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov accused law enforcement bodies of involvement in some of the abductions of civilians in Ingushetia. (Gazeta.ru, Izvestia, Kommersant, MN)

22 februari 2012

Suspect in Chechen commander's murder case hospitalized in Moscow: Chechen native Zelimkhan Mazayev wanted by Dubai police on suspicion of murdering former commander of the Russian Defence Ministry's Vostok battalion Sulim Yamadayev in March 2009 has been hospitalized with a gunshot wound in Moscow. According to media reports, Mazayev accidentally shot himself. (Gazeta.ru, Izvestia, MT)

28 februari 2012

Putin assassination plot foiled: Media report on the announcement by Russian and Ukrainian special services that they had foiled a terrorist plot to assassinate PM Vladimir Putin. Two suspects have been detained in Odessa (Ukraine), while a third man died in an explosion in January. According to Moskovskie Novosti, one of the suspects, Adam Osmayev, is a nephew to Chechen politician Amin Osmayev who headed Vladimir Putin's election campaign headquarters in Chechnya in 2000. Russia's state-owned Channel One television channel reported that the suspects had received the order from North Caucasus militant leader Doku Umarov. Channel One's report also said that a series of assassination plots against Putin have been thwarted by special services. Meanwhile, commentators differ in their assessment of the reports about a planned attack on Putin's life. Some experts said the news, which broke just days before the 4 March Presidential election, is intended to raise Putin's popularity and view it as part of his election campaign. Some others did not rule out that the plot could have been aimed to destabilize the situation in Russia ahead of the election. Commenting on reactions in Ukraine, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports that some Ukrainian politicians could try to promote the idea of introducing a visa regime between Russia and Ukraine citing a threat of terrorism. (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, KP, MN, MT, NG, Novye Izvestia, RBK daily, RG, Vedomosti)

Five hunters killed in Dagestan: Dagestan's investigators said that the five hunters whose bodies were found in a forest early on Moscow in Dagestan's Karabudakhkent district could have been killed by militants. (Kommersant, Lenta.ru)

29 februari 2012

Suspect says Berezovsky, Zakayev might have been behind Politkovskaya's murder: Kommersant reports that one of the suspects in the 2006 murder case of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, former senior police official Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, testified that businessman Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev might have ordered Politkovskaya's murder. Both Berezovsky and Zakayev are currently residing in the UK. (Kommersant)