Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - november 2012

• 2012-12-03
• Europa in de wereld

Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - november 2012

1 november 2012

North Caucasus: At a meeting yesterday in Pyatigorsk, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev warned of a threat of ethnically motivated extremism, in particular among youths and first of all in the Stavropol territory. (RG)

7 november 2012

Number of checkpoints in Dagestan to be increased: Addressing efforts to stabilize the situation in volatile Dagestan, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports on plans to set up additional checkpoints in Dagestan by redeploying some forces from Chechnya to Dagestan. Dagestani leader Magomedsalam Magomedov said that 225 terrorism-related crimes have been registered in Dagestan in the nine months of 2012. (NG)

9 november 2012

Reshuffles in Defence Ministry, General Staff anticipated: Commander of the Central Military District Valery Gerasimov is expected to be appointed the Chief of Russian General Staff to replace Nikolai Makarov. Airborne Troops commander Vladimir Shamanov is seen by the press as a likely candidate for the post of First Deputy Defence Minister. Gazeta.ru recalls that during the second Chechen campaign, Shamanov was commander of the 58th Army and Gerasimov was its chief of staff. In 2001, Gerasimov became commander of the 58th Army. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu has appointed Yury Sadovenko as the Defence Ministry's chief of staff. (Gazeta.ru, Izvestia, Kommersant, NG, RBK daily, RG)

One policeman killed, at least five others wounded in Dagestan: (i) One police officer was killed and at least five others were wounded in an attack on Thursday in Dagestan's Karabudakhkent district. (ii) Representatives of the Nogai ethnic group [mainly living in Dagestan, the Stavropol territory and Chechnya] in a letter called on President Putin to consider a possibility of establishing a territorial entity of the Nogai. (Lenta.ru, Ekho Moskvy)

12 november 2012

Imam killed in Dagestan:(i) Imam of a local mosque Gadzhi Aliyev was killed in an attack on Sunday in Dagestan. (ii) In an interview with Izvestia, Dagestani leader Magomedsalam Magomedov spoke in favor of an increase in the quota for Dagestani conscripts to serve in the Russian Armed Forces. (ITAR-TASS, Izvestia

14 november 2012

Chechen leader accuses Ingush head of failure to restore order in Ingushetia: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Ingush head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov of "flirting" with militants and inability to restore order in Ingushetia. The statement was made after Yevkurov criticized a recent initiative by Chechen Muslim figures not to bury militants' bodies in line with religious traditions. (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant)

16 november 2012

Dagestan seeks to change the names of republics?: In a front-page article, Izvestia reports that Dagestan plans to initiate the change of the names of virtually all republics of the Russian Federation. (Izvestia)

19 november 2012

Protest against detention of local residents in Dagestan: (i) Reportedly, up to 200 residents of the Dagestani village of Gimry protested on Friday against the detention by police of three local residents on suspicion of storing arms. On Saturday, the detainees were released, writes Kommersant. (ii) Four militants were killed in police operations in Dagestan on Friday. (Kommersant, Gazeta.ru)

Budanov murder case: A jury at the Moscow City Court will hear the case of native of Chechnya Yusup Temerkhanov, who is suspected of killing former colonel Yury Budanov in June 2011 in Moscow. (Kommersant, RG)

20 november 2012

Gold smuggling channel to fund North Caucasus militants uncovered: (i) The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported the breaking up of a channel to smuggle industrial gold from the Magadan region (Russia's Far East) to Ingushetia to fund militants in the North Caucasus. (ii) Kommersant reports on the detention of three suspected members of illegal armed groups in Karachayevo-Cherkessia on suspicion of preparing attacks on law enforcement officers. (Kommersant, NG)

21 november 2012

Militant leader killed in Dagestan: The leader of the Gubden terrorist gang Taimas Taimasov was killed in an operation on Tuesday in Dagestan's Karabudakhkent district. One special task force officer was killed in the operation. (ITAR-TASS)

22 november 2012

Three killed in Dagestan blast: (i) Two bombs went off outside a closed bank in the Dagestani village Shamil-Kala on Wednesday. Two police officers and one civilian were killed and one person was wounded in the second explosion which occurred when investigators arrived at the scene of the first blast. (ii) Kommersant reports on an upcoming trial in Ukraine of Russian national Adam Osmayev, who is suspected of plotting assassination attempts on President Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The daily recalls that the European Court of Human Rights has decided that Osmayev's extradition to Russia be suspended. (Kommersant, RIAN)

28 november 2012

Caucasus development programme: Newspapers report that during his meeting with the President Putin, Vice Premier Alexander Khloponin, Russian Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District, reported on the state program for development of the North Caucasus. The program focuses on social infrastructure and economy of the region. According to the data released by the Russian Ministry for Regional Development, the regional population is expected to increase by 10 million, only 58% of children in the region have access to nurseries, 51% of education centres. The program will be completed by 2025 and will cost about 2.5 (Rossiskaya Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda )

Mirzayev freed on time served: Martial-arts fighter Rasul Mirzayev, who fatally struck a man who ostensibly made a pass at his girlfriend outside a nightclub in August last year, was convicted of manslaughter but sentenced to time served on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Mirzayev, slipped out of the Zamoskvoretsky district courtroom through a back door as crowds of nationalists gathered near the entrance. With Mirzayev being a Dagestan native, his case sent shock waves through ethnic communities as Russian nationalists and Dagestani officials vied over what would constitute a fair punishment. On Tuesday evening, hundreds of policemen, many on horseback, patrolled Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Manezh Square after nationalist groups on social networks called for mass demonstrations. (All media)