Public reaction to last August's outbreak of war in Chechnya proved very different to the way the last conflict was received in 1995. The difference, reports Densi Bevz from the Siberian city of Tomsk, is down to cynicism, an uncaring community and the me
The second Chechen war has bridged the differences between Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and his long-time political rival, Shamil Basaev, the most notorious Chechen field commander of recent times.
Last Monday, Moscow dropped leaflets on Grozny telling all residents they must leave before Saturday. That deadline is now upon the city's band of defenders - and an estimated 30,000 innocent civilians.
Even when a war is called an 'anti-terrorism operation', as the Russian authorities call their current works in Chechnya, it still has to be paid for.
By Maria Eismont, recently in Samashki, Chechnya (CRS No. 9, 3-Dec-99)
Russian officials label the humanitarian crisis in Chechnya as a 'well directed play' as thousands of Chechen refugees into Ingushetia - and back - now the border crossing is finally reopened.
The only real opposition to President Eduard Shevardnadze's Citizens Union of Georgia after last month's vote was Aslan Abashidze's Georgian Revival Party. Next year the two will face off again in the presidential poll.
Tribunal Update 105: Last Week in The Hague (7-12 December, 1998)
