Chechnya

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Because of Putin’s War in Ukraine, World Now Views Russia’s Wars in Chechnya with New Eyes, Anzor Maskhadov Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, May 7 – Yet another unintended consequence of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is that the international community is now viewing Russia’s two post-Soviet wars in Ukraine in a new way given that Russian forces in Ukraine today are behaving in much the same way they did in Chechnya two decades ago, Anzor Maskhadov says.

The son of the last president of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria who has lived in Norway for the last 16 years but who has now come to Ukraine to fight Russia and help the Ukrainians defend their land and reputation says many in the West now see Putin’s true face and understand that what he is doing in Ukraine now is what he did in Chechnya earlier. Read more →

Ukrainian War Unsettles Russian Regions and Non-Russian Republics

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 19 Issue: 31

By: Paul Goble

March 8, 2022 

Moscow has been extremely chary about reporting combat losses in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine, electing instead to make the heads of the federal subjects responsible for doing so at the local level—lest it become immediately obvious to all Russians just how large these cumulative losses have become. But that decision, like the decision to make the federal subject heads responsible for fighting the coronavirus pandemic, may backfire on the central government. Not only is this forced delegation of responsibility likely to infuriate those governors, who will have to face public anger, but it may also highlight the extent to which “Russian” combat losses are concentrated in non-Russian areas and among rural Russians. Indeed, there is already growing evidence that non-Russian troops are dying in disproportionate numbers in Ukraine. So while most republic leaders have lined up behind Putin’s war, many in the national movements are now talking about pursuing secession from the Russian Federation. Read more →

Paul Goble’s 42 Windows on Eurasia for Aug. 6 – 11, 2021     

1.      Moscow Giving Orders on Pandemic that Violate Russian Laws, Study Finds

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/08/moscow-giving-orders-on-pandemic-that.html

2.      A Baker’s Double Dozen of Other Notable Stories from Russia This Week

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-bakers-double-dozen-of-other-notable_11.html  

3.      Twenty-Five Years Ago This Week, Chechens Drove Russians Out of Grozny

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/08/twenty-five-years-ago-this-week.html  Read more →

Paul Goble’s 42 Windows on Eurasia for June 7-12, 2021

 

1.      Moscow Claims Success against Pandemic as Third Wave Hits Russia East of the Urals

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/06/moscow-claims-success-against-pandemic.html

2.      Russia’s Enemies aren’t Opponents but Threats to Russian Identity, Gudkov Says

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/06/russias-enemies-arent-opponents-but.html

3.      Federative Party Leader Leaves Russia But Vows to Continue the Fight

windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/06/federative-party-leader-leaves-russia.html  Read more →

In the Footsteps of Sykes-Picot Agreement Consequences / When the Student Outshines the Master — Part 2

By: Adel Bashqawi

20 November, 2020

*Part One

mentioned the Sykes-Picot Agreement signed in 1916, between France and Britain with the approval of two false witnesses representing both the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement aimed to divide territories, which were an “integral part of the Ottoman Empire,” between the two main signatories. [1]

*Part One [2] Read more →

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Moscow Treating North Caucasus Republics like Colonies, Khatazhukov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 27 – Many Russians and others as well blame conditions in the North Caucasus republics on the nations there, blaming them for the authoritarianism of their regimes. But that is not the cause of the situation. These republics began to build serious civil societies in the 1990s, but then Moscow crushed them, Valery Khatazhukov says.

            The Circassian head of the Kabardino-Balkar Human Rights Protection Center says that the reason for this change was not the second post-Soviet Chechen war but rather the Kremlin’s decision to treat Chechnya and the other republics as colonies and test repressive measures there before using them elsewhere (caucasustimes.com/ru/valerij-hatazhukov-kreml-vystraivaet-svoi-otnoshenija-s-severnym-kavkazom-kak-metropolija-s-kolonijami/). Read more →

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Chechens Turned to Islam to Find Justice But Circassians Already had It, Bzegezhev Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 25 – Russians and other outsiders are accustomed to lumping together all the peoples of the North Caucasus, except for the North Ossetians, as Muslims, but what it means for each of them to be a Muslim varies widely depending on the nature of their cultural code before Islam arrived and whether it provided justice, Askhad Bzegezhev says.

            Writing on Moscow’s Snob portal, the Circassian commentator says he always was struck by the fact that Russians call all Circassians Muslims while none of his relatives, friends or acquaintances go to mosques or wear the hijab or otherwise behave as Russians expect Muslims to (snob.ru/profile/32165/blog/171092/). Read more →