After a long quiet spell, the Kremlin has made several personnel changes affecting both regional heads and Moscow's relationship with the regions. These include the removal of the governor of the Amur region, the disclosure of a shortlist of candidates for the head of Khakasia and the appointment of a new regional development minister.
The resignation of Amur Governor Nikolai Kolesov was long expected. The entire local political elite was opposed to his appointment 15 months ago, when he came to the job from Kazan without any knowledge of the Amur region and without any administrative experience. Kamil Iskhako, former presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District, had lobbied for Kolesov's appointment, but when he left office a year ago, Iskhakov could no longer cover for his political protege. The relatively small region six time zones east of Moscow holds the honor of changing more governors -- and under more scandalous circumstances -- than ...
Three Years After Nalchik, North Caucasus Resistance Remains Potent, Deadly Force
A police station in Nalchik after the 2005 raid
October 12, 2008
By Liz Fuller
On October 13, 2005, some 150 to 200 highly motivated but poorly trained and prepared young local Muslims launched multiple attacks on police and security facilities in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. The raid, seven months after the death of Chechen President and resistance commander Aslan Maskhadov, was not a success. The attackers killed 35 police and security personnel and 14 civilians, but lost 92 of their own. Many of the survivors were apprehended and are currently on trial.
Yet despite that setback, and the deaths the following year of two key Chechen resistance figures, the Islamic resistance across the North Caucasus is today stronger, more organized, more ideologically cohesive, and more deadly than it was three years ago.
The Nalchik raid was not the first the resistance launched outside Chechnya.
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