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Digest Vol. 1, #9
Milashina attacked: On the morning of 4 July, having arrived in Grozny to report on the sentencing of Zarema Musaeva, Novaya Gazeta journalist and Komanda Protiv Pytok lawyer Aleksandr Nemov were abducted and attacked by a group of armed men. Milashina and Nemov describe roughly a dozen men overtaking their taxi, abducting the pair—there has…
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Digest Vol. 1, #8
Zakayev’s nephews kidnapped: On 19 May, the Kadyrov regime kidnapped two nephews of Prime Minister-in-exile Akhmed Zakayev* from Urus-Martan. The younger of the brothers has already been released, although the elder’s location remains unknown. Unsurprisingly, officials have not provided a reason for the detentions. According to Kavkaz.Realii, the abduction operation was conducted by officers of…
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Digest Vol. 1, #7
Crackdowns in Kabardino-Balkaria: The regional authorities have recently embarked on a campaign to neutralize the potency of nationalities in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR), targeting both the Balkar and Circassian populations. The Nalchik city court decided to dissolve the Council of Elders of the Balkar People (Sovet stareishin balkarskogo naroda) and Bash-Tere. Activists have since…
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Digest Vol. 1, #6
Kadyrov’s Ukrainian gamble revisited: Roughly a year ago, Ramzan Kadyrov gambled on Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One month into the renewed war, with the assault on Kyiv having failed, I evaluated how Kadyrov’s bet was paying off. A year has passed since then, and it is time for a reappraisal. Back in March 2022,…
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Digest Vol. 1, #5
Ingushetia raids over mobilization: January ended with raids targeting officials in Nazran from the military enlistment office. These activities were in connection to problems with the September mobilization effort. During the initial days of mobilization, Ingushetia’s popular pro-authorities Telegram channels were silent about it. They instead covered the security services’ ongoing war with the Batalkhadzhintsy—the…
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Digest Vol. 1, #4
Academics under pressure in Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR): Researchers at the Institute of Humanitarian Studies at the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences were subjected to renewed repression. The authorities conducted raids and are accusing the unnamed researchers of “anti-Russian activities.” This is a repeat of earlier repressive actions in November 2022 against members…
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Digest Vol. 1, #3
Ibragim Yaganov – “foreign agent”: The Russian Ministry of Justice labeled the Circassian activist a “foreign agent” for receiving foreign support while calling for violations of the law, resisting authorities, and protests threatening the territorial integrity of the country. The move is not surprising. Yaganov, in exile in Poland because of politically motivated terrorism charges…
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Digest Vol. 1, #2
Chechen joint operation in Opytne: The Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion’s Adam Group, the Sheikh Mansur Battalion, and the Ukrainian National Guard conducted a successful operation in the village of Opytne, just to the south of Bakhmut. Based on conflict monitoring by the Institute for the Study of War (see map below), this operation appears to have…
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Digest Vol. 1, #1
Diaspora launches Ingush independence movement: The Committee of Ingush Independence held the “Congress of Allies of Free Ingushetia” on 7 January in Istanbul. According to its Telegram channel, the Committee appears to have been founded in mid-December, but only posted at the beginning of the year. The stated goals of the new social movement are…
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Welcome!
With Twitter seemingly deteriorating at an accelerated rate, I am preliminarily launching my website, “Banks of the Terek.” This site is still in development, and will gradually come together in the coming weeks and months. As this is a work-in-progress, please bear with me as I get it up and running. I would like to…