Category Archives: Chechnya

Will the real Ramzan Kadyrov please stand up?  Or at least provide an official passport?  As some may already know, the great pacifier of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov has his own blog.  Or is this his blog, “No, I’m Kadyrov“?

Whichever one is the real Ramzan, his move to share his thoughts inevitably signifies that blogging, and those by politicians and tyrants in particular, has indeed jumped the shark.  Who’s next Kim Jong-il?  (You know if the Dear Leader had a blog you would read it.  I know I would.)

And what did Mr. Kadyrov have to say in his first post?

Here we will meet with you on my blog. There are a great number of blogs that claim to be me. Rest assured, not a single one of them, with exception of the official site of the President of the Chechen Republic, are ..read more

Another day, more news.

But for some the news is the news itself.  As I suggested on Monday, it was only a matter a time, like seconds, that much of the Western media would be blaming Russia–which really is a metonym for Putin, Putinism or what have you–for the attacks.  I won’t spend so much time on identifying the metanarrative or metacommentary on all of this.  Others have been this already: Mark Adomanis, A Good Treaty, and Peter Lavelle.  I don’t agree with every bit of the metacommentary, but I do support the general thrust of their arguments.

One comment I will make is the controversy over what, how much, and when Russian federal television broadcast news of the attacks.  This is one angle many in the English language media have sunk their teeth in.  Frankly, I think this issue ..read more

The Kavkaz Center has posted a video from Doku Umarov where he claims responsibility for Monday’s twin suicide bombings in Moscow.  Here it is the video (in Russian).

Here is Kavkaz Center’s English summary:

In his video statement, reordered on March 29, 2010, Dokka Abu Usman said that the attack had been a retaliation and a retribution for the massacre by Russian invaders of the poorest residents of Chechnya and Ingushetia, who were picking wild garlic in the Arshty village on February 11, 2010, to feed their families.

He stressed that the killing of the most poor part of local residents had been deliberate, because the criminal FSB special forces finished off innocent civilians with knives, and then mocked on their corpses.

Dokka Abu Usman indicated to all his accusers that the Moscow attack was a legitimate act of retaliation for continued killings of civilians in the Caucasus.

The head of the Caucasus Emirate said ..read more

What follows is basically an incomplete rundown of some of the commentary coming out of Russia.  It’s mostly based on the Russian language media since, frankly, much of the English language media is worthless with some exceptions.

The Western Party line, as gleaned from Owen Mathews’ piece in Newsweek, seems to be a simple, yet predictable one:

Unlike Israel, though, Putin does not have the option of building a wall across the North Caucasus to keep out bombers. The likely reaction will expanded surveillance powers for the FSB and stop-and-search powers for the police—thereby cutting off a fledgling civil-society movement to crack down on corruption and institute wholesale reforms of both those institutions. Most worryingly of all for the Kremlin, if the state continues to fail to provide security to its citizens, popular protests will only grow—putting opposition groups on ..read more

As you can guess the big news, actually, the only news today in Russia is the two subway bombings in the center of Moscow.  The first occurred Monday morning at 7:50 am at the Lubyanka station, the second 40 minutes later at Park kulturty station.  As of now there are 41 deaths but this will certainly continue to rise.  Around 61 people are injured with over half in critical condition reports RIA Novosti.  Those interested can keep on top of things through Russia RIA Novosti English site.

I’m okay and as far as I know everyone I know in Moscow is okay.

This is what is known at the moment . . . I repeat at the moment.  The bombings are said to have been carried out by two female bombers with two kilograms of plastic explosives with nails and bolts in each.  The ..read more

Ramzan Kadyrov has been called a lot of things.  Few of them positive.  But an interrogator of would-be terrorists?  It has been alleged that Kadyrov has been present at the interrogation of Chechen rebels and terrorists, even going so far as amusing himself “by personally giving prisoners electric shocks or firing pistols at their feet.”  But these allegations have never gone beyond anecdotal evidence.  Kadyrov himself has certainly never used his participation in interrogations as PR.  Until now.

It’s been a summer of death in the North Caucasus, and Kadyrov might be feeling the need to personally step in and show he’s still large and in charge.  According to the NY Times,

Between June and August, 436 people have been killed, compared with 150 during the same months in 2008. And the number of attacks jumped to 452 from 265, according to statistics compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, ..read more