Mother Russia Part 2 Foreign Policy Media Chechnya

Mother Russia Part 2 Foreign Policy Media Chechnya

Foreign Policy Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran followed in the footsteps of Persian soldiers Tuesday.

TEHRAN, Oct. 16 2007 Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in Tehran on Tuesday. They and leaders of other Caspian Sea nations condemned any use of force in the area

Putin Is Said to Offer Idea on Standoff Over Iran President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met Tuesday with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

April 22, 2007 50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio MOSCOW, April 21 — At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive. ” In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin. How would they know what constituted positive network, “When we talk of death, violence or poverty, for example, this is not positive, ” said one editor at the station who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. “If the stock market is up, that is positive. The weather can also be positive. ”

In a darkening media landscape, radio news had been a rare bright spot. Now, the implementation of the “ 50 percent positive” rule at the Russian News Service leaves an increasingly small number of news outlets that are not managed by the Kremlin, directly or through the state national gas company, Gazprom, a major owner of media assets. The three national television networks are already state controlled, though smallcirculation newspapers generally remain independent. This month alone, a bank loyal to President Vladimir V. Putin tightened its control of an independent television station, Parliament passed a measure banning “extremism” in politics and prosecutors have gone after individuals who post critical comments on Web chat rooms.

With this new campaign, seemingly aimed at tying up the loose ends before a parliamentary election in the fall that is being carefully stage-managed by the Kremlin, censorship rules in Russia have reached their most restrictive since the breakup of the Soviet Union, media watchdog groups say. “This is not the U. S. S. R. , when every print or broadcasting outlet was preliminarily censored, ” Masha Lipman, a researcher at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in a telephone interview. Instead, the tactic has been to impose state ownership on media companies and replace editors with those who are supporters of Mr. Putin — or offer a generally more upbeat report on developments in Russia these days. The new censorship rules are often passed in vaguely worded measures and decrees that are ostensibly intended to protect the public. Late last year, for example, the prosecutor general and the interior minister appeared before Parliament to ask deputies to draft legislation banning the distribution on the Web of “extremist” content — a catch phrase, critics say, for information about opponents of Mr. Putin. On Friday, the Federal Security Service, a successor agency to the K. G. B. , questioned Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion and opposition politician, for four hours regarding an interview he had given on the Echo of Moscow radio station. Prosecutors have accused Mr. Kasparov of expressing extremist views.

In a still frame from video, the incomplete digital erasure of a Putin critic named Mikhail G. Delyagin from an episode of the program "The People Want to Know" can be seen. Mr. Delyagin's leg and hand remain visible, to the right of the man holding the microphone. June 3, 2008 It Isn’t Magic: Putin Opponents Are Made to Vanish From TV MOSCOW — On a talk show last fall, a prominent political analyst named Mikhail G. Delyagin had some tart words about Vladimir V. Putin. When the program was later televised, Mr. Delyagin was not. Not only were his remarks cut — he was also digitally erased from the show, like a disgraced comrade airbrushed from an old Soviet photo. (The technicians may have worked a bit hastily, leaving his disembodied legs in one shot. ) Mr. Delyagin, it turned out, has for some time resided on the so-called stop list, a roster of political opponents and other critics of the government who have been barred from TV news and political talk shows by the Kremlin. The stop list is, as Mr. Delyagin put it, “an excellent way to stifle dissent. ” It is also a striking indication of how Mr. Putin has increasingly relied on the Kremlin-controlled TV networks to consolidate power, especially in recent elections.

The President of Russia can be impeached if both the State Duma (which initiates the impeachment process through the formation of a special investigation committee) and the Federation Council of Russia vote by a two-thirds majority in favor of impeachment and, additionally, the Supreme Court finds the President guilty of treason or a similarly heavy crime against the nation and the Constitutional Court confirms that the constitutional procedure of the impeachment process was correctly observed. In 19951999, the Duma made several attempts to impeach then-President Boris Yeltsin, but they never had a sufficient amount of votes for the process to reach the Federation Council.

Putin Opens Mecca Path for Muslims A lone woman prayed as Russian Muslims met at Moscow’s main mosque before setting off on their pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. MOSCOW — Gulsine K. Fatakhudinova, a 56 -year-old Tatar Muslim, came lugging suitcases to pray at the lime-green mosque in central Moscow — one of dozens of people who arrived one recent day bundled in the weighty coats, fur hats and other winter garb they would soon cast off, at least temporarily. Barred by the Soviets for decades from carrying out Islam’s most sacred rite, such pilgrims were among the tens of thousands of Russian Muslims traveling to Saudi Arabia to join the masses in Mecca for the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, to one of Islam’s holiest sites. Their numbers have swelled in the last several years thanks largely to Russia’s growing wealth and increasing stability in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region, including in Chechnya, where the effects of nearly a decade of war have begun to fade.

Chechnya: an oil rich Islamic break away Republic in the Caucuses Region

This video image shows insurgent leader Doku Umarov as he claims responsibility for last month's deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport. It was not clear when or where the video was recorded Wathc: http: //www. france 24. com/en/20110208 -russia-chechen-militant-dokuumarov-moscow-domodedovo-airport-bombing-terrorist

Medvedev Warns Against Ethnic Attacks Mr. Medvedev’s statement, delivered in steely tones on national television, attempted to rein in unrest that erupted over the weekend. Thousands of young men massed outside Red Square on Saturday, attacking both police officers and passers-by who had the dark complexions of migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Since then, the police have reported beatings, stabbings and shootings of people who were not ethnic Russians, often by groups of young people. Dec 2010 Riot police officers patrolled Manezh Square in Moscow on Monday, two days after unrest there. http: //www. nytimes. com/2010/12/14/ world/europe/14 russia. html? _r=1&ref= world

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Moscow Metro hit by deadly suicide bombings- 2010 The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two women during the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro (Lubyanka and Park Kultury), with roughly 40 minutes interval between. At least 40 people were killed, and over 100 injured. Russian officials called the incident "the deadliest and most sophisticated terrorist attack in the Russian capital in six years",

History: 1858 - After decades of violent resistance, Chechnya is conquered by Russia following the defeat of Imam Shamil and his fighters, who had aimed to establish an Islamic state. 1944 - Soviet dictator Stalin deports the entire Chechen and Ingush populations to Siberia and Central Asia, citing alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. Many thousands die in the process. 1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union. Communist leader Doku Zavgayev overthrown; Dzhokhar Dudayev wins a presidential poll and proclaims Chechnya independent of Russia. 1992 - Chechnya adopts a constitution defining it as an independent, secular state governed by a president and parliament. But the pipelines that cross it, and its different Constitutional status means Russia won’t let it go 1994 December - Russian troops enter Chechnya to quash the independence movement. Up to 100, 000 people - many of them civilians - are estimated to have been killed in the 20 -month war that followed.

“we need a short and victorious war” Russia launched massive air strikes on the Chechen capital, Grozny, in December 1994 after the Chechen government refused to disarm and surrender to Moscow's authority. Tanks rolled in on 11 December, their paths often blocked by peaceful protests. By the end of the month they had reached Grozny. The first bloody battle took place on New Year's Eve and was a disaster for the Russian forces. Hundreds of soldiers died.

Battle for Grozny The fight for control of Grozny continued for weeks. Russian forces' air strikes and artillery demolished large parts of the city centre. Chechen fighters used guerrilla tactics to harass the Russian forces and their armour. Thousands of Chechens fled their homes, filling up refugee camps in neighbouring Ingushetia

The Chechen rebels made good use of the mountain terrain. They used forested hillsides for cover, and for mounting ambushes. They could also rely on considerable public support. In 1996, they came down from the hills and regained control of Grozny, forcing the Russian authorities to make peace. The rebels' military commander, Aslan Maskhadov, was elected president in January 1997

Yeltsin described his decision to send the army into Chechnya at the end of 1994 as his greatest mistake. The aim was to restore Moscow's authority over the unruly and crime-ridden North Caucasus. The result was a disaster. In 21 months of fighting thousands of civilians died, many thousands more were made homeless and the centre of the capital, Grozny, was reduced to rubble. In 1996 the Russian army was forced into a humiliating withdrawal, leaving Chechnya as a de facto independent territory in the hands of violent warlords. Four years later, battle was resumed, when Russian forces were ordered back into the breakaway republic.

August and September 1999. A series of apartment-block bombs brought terror to Russian cities, killing nearly 300 people in The attacks came as Russian troops drove Islamic insurgents from Chechnya out of the neighbouring North Caucasian republic of Dagestan. Soon afterwards Russia sent thousands of troops into Chechnya itself to smash the guerrillas. This time the war proved popular with the Russian public who voted in large numbers for the pro-Kremlin Unity party, backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in December's parliamentary election.

So the war takes a “Round TWO” The Russian army stormed back into Chechnya in autumn 1999, on the orders of Vladimir Putin. Chechen radicals were blamed for a series of apartment block bombings. They also tried to start an Islamist rebellion in neighbouring Dagestan. The region had also become one of the world's hostage-taking capitals. As President Maskhadov was challenged by a number of rebellious warlords, the republic slipped out of his control.

Once more, Chechen civilians were the worst hit. Thousands streamed back into the camps in Ingushetia. Families were divided or left fatherless. Already a generation was growing up in the shadow of war.

The number of Russian casualties is unknown. The Russian authorities rarely publish figures. The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers has estimated that 12, 000 died between autumn 1999 and autumn 2003. Many of those sent to fight in Chechnya were raw recruits, poorly trained and equipped - and sometimes poorly fed. Many civilians have also died

Russian tanks continued to rain shells down on Grozny, in the months after the second invasion. More cautious than in 1994, troops advancing into the city pulled back whenever they encountered resistance. The area would then be pounded by artillery.

4 Russian forces have been accused of persistent human rights violations. Their tactic of indiscriminately rounding up Chechen men of fighting age, then interrogating them in "filtration camps" in order to identify rebel fighters has been widely condemned. Many Chechen men have "disappeared" in this way. The Russian human rights group Memorial has said 194 Chechens disappeared in the first half of 2004. Western criticism of Russian tactics and human rights violations in Chechnya was all but silenced following the 11 September attacks on the US. Russia has since portrayed the Chechens as part of the global terror network and uses this to vindicate its methods

Special forces and Interior Ministry troops taking up positions around theater, which was seized Wednesday by a group of armed men during a performance of "Nord-Ost. " 2 doctors remove body of female hostage taker Fall 2002 Chechen rebels seize theatre—rescue is a fiasco; over 100 people died from the effects of toxic knockout gas sprayed by security forces into a central Moscow theater, where Chechen fighters - including 19 female shakhidy, or "martyrs" - were holding 800 hostages

The bloodiest rebel atrocity took place at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in 2004. Rebels seized the school on the first day of the autumn term, with more than 1, 000 pupils, parents and teachers inside. The siege ended in a bloodbath, in which more than 330 people died

Summer 2003 Sixteen died when two women shakhidy blew themselves up at a Moscow rock concert in July Dec 2003 alleged Chechen suicide bomber killed 44 people on a commuter train in southern Russia. Responsibility for such bombings is seldom claimed by Chechen rebels or anyone else Dec 2003 A suicide bomber detonated a powerful explosive belt near Russia's key symbols of power Tuesday, killing six people and injuring 12 just a few steps from Red Square, the Kremlin and the State Duma Feb 2004 devastating terrorist attack on a crowded Moscow metro train Friday, killed at least 39 commuters and injured 122, has ratcheted up public fear and tensions on the eve of Russia's long-awaited presidential election. The apparent suicide bombing, blamed by authorities on Chechen rebels, seemed to echo the horrifying autumn of 1999, when a series of still-unsolved apartment explosions killed almost 300 people just as Russia was headed into the cycle of parliamentary and presidential elections that brought Vladimir Putin to power.

A controversial referendum in March 2003 approved a new constitution, giving Chechnya more autonomy but stipulating that it remained firmly part of Russia. Akmad Kadryov elected president; then killed by a bomb attack in a stadium. President Kadyrov: Assassinated in 2004 New Kremlin backed president : Alkhanov People fled from the scene in terror

Former rebel sworn in as new president of Chechnya April 5, 2007 A 30 -year-old amateur boxer who is accused by human rights groups of murdering and kidnapping civilians was this morning inaugurated as the new president of the war-torn republic of Chechnya. Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel turned Moscow loyalist who has his own militia army, was installed as president in a lavish ceremony in Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest city, 20 miles east of the capital, Grozny. Human rights groups allege that security forces under Mr Kadyrov's control abduct and torture civilians suspected of ties to Chechnya's separatist rebels. Some observers also suggest he was behind last year's murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative journalist who had documented Chechnya's plight. . Mr Kadyrov denies involvement. Her killers have not been caught. This morning hundreds of high-profile guests gathered to see Mr Kadyrov presented with the Chechen flag and coat of arms. The new Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, takes the oath in the Chechen town of Gudermes Moscow has poured huge funds into rebuilding Grozny and Chechnya, and insists that the region has now returned to normal. Mr Kadyrov has taken much of the credit for this. Large posters with his picture and streets named after both him and his father have helped create a personality cult. "I've been coming here and working here on and off for five years, " Pavel Tarakanov, 25, the head of Moscow-based Civil Society group told Reuters news agency this morning. "But in the last half a year Kadyrov has changed Chechnya beyond all recognition. " With help from Mr Kadyrov's militias, Russian forces have wiped out most insurgent leaders and driven the rebels into mountain hideouts from where they launch occasional attacks

Chechnya now. . . Grozny in 1995 Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, this year. Sept 30 2007

Life for some Chechens has begun to return to normal, despite sporadic car-bombs and assassinations, and continuing tensions between security forces and rebel sympathisers. Some reconstruction work has taken place. Many refugees have returned home.

C . A road in Gudermes is being surfaced and in the background An Orthodox church rebuilt in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, which was largely destroyed by years of war.

“remnants remain” The attack, late last month, was part of what Chechens described as an intensified government effort to stamp out the remnants of a war that has continued, at varying levels of ferocity, for nearly 15 years. In a campaign to punish families with sons suspected of supporting the insurgency, at least a dozen homes have been set ablaze since midsummer, residents and a local human rights organization said. The burnings have been accompanied by a program, embraced by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, Chechnya’s president, that has forced visibly frightened parents of insurgents to appear on television and beg their sons to return home. “If you do not come back I will never forgive you, ” one father, Ruslan Bachalov, said to his son on a recent broadcast. “I will forgive the man who will kill you. ”

In Chechen’s Humiliation, Questions on Rule of Law Since 2004, the war in Chechnya has tilted sharply in the Kremlin’s favor, as open combat with separatists has declined in intensity and frequency. Moscow now administers the republic and fights the remaining insurgency largely through paramilitary forces led by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the powerful young Chechen premier. Mr. Kadyrov’s public persona is flamboyantly pro-Russian. He praises President Vladimir V. Putin and has pledged to rebuild Chechnya and lead it back to the Kremlin’s fold. “I cannot tell you how great my love for Russia is, ” he said in an interview this year. http: //www. nytimes. com/2006/08/30/w orld/europe/30 chechnya. html? ex=13145 90400&en=a 381 ae 015710 fb 2 d&ei=5088 &partner=rssnyt&emc=rss But beneath this publicly professed loyalty, some of Chechnya’s indigenous security forces — with their evident anti-Slavic racism, institutionalized brutality, culture of impunity and intolerant interpretation of a pre-medieval Islamic code — have demonstrated the vicious behavior that Russia has said its latest invasion of Chechnya, in 1999, was supposed to stop.

September 29, 2008 To Smother Rebels, Arson Campaign in Chechnya By C. J. CHIVERS Valentina Basargina, in her house, burned last month by arsonists. The police suspected her nephew of joining the insurgency.

News Analysis Summer 2009 Chechnya and Its Neighbors Suffer a Relapse Kazbek Vakhayev/European Pressphoto Agency On Aug. 17, a blast at the police headquarters in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia, killed 25 people and wounded 280. A period of calm has ended in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan Ramzan A. Kadyrov is the president of Chechnya. Do we see co-option here?