Summary of the main news related to the conflict in Chechnya. Compiled by Prague Watchdog.
Monday, June 30
Thirteen members of the Lithuanian Parliament sent an open letter to the heads of the United Nations, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in which they request that the UN take over the solution to the conflict in Chechnya and establish a special mission for it.
Tuesday, July 1
Russia started handing over the control of its "counter-terrorist operation" in Chechnya from the Federal Security Service (FSB) to the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic, which was created in late 2002.
Wednesday, July 2
No major events.
Thursday, July 3
Russian MP and human rights defender Yury Shchekochikhin, who repeatedly advocated a peaceful solution to the conflict in Chechnya, died in a Moscow hospital, probably of illness.
Friday, July 4
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which the election of the President of the Chechen Republic should take place on October 5.
Ali Astamirov, a Chechen correspondent for the AFP news agency, was kidnapped by unknown men in Ingushetia.
Saturday, July 5
Two bomb explosions ripped through the entrance to a rock festival in Tushino on the outskirts of Moscow. The blasts were caused by two female suicide bombers. The police stated that one of the women had a Chechen passport with her and that the owner of the passport came from the Chechen town of Kurchaloy.
Sunday, July 6
Russian military helicopter Mi-8 crashed in the Chechen village of Novogroznensky, probably due to sub-machine gun fire by Chechen guerrillas. Four people died and nearly a dozen injured in the incident.
Unknown assailants killed Khalid Saidulayev, head of the administration of the Gordali village in the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district of Chechnya.
The views expressed on this web site are the authors' own, and don't necessarily reflect the views of Prague Watchdog, which aims to present a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis relating to events in the North Caucasus.