Introduction
The past two weeks in the North Caucasus have been relatively calm. Regional leaders have continued to be involved in sending volunteers to Ukraine, while no major drone airstrikes have been reported in the North Caucasian republics.
The latest figures for North Caucasian casualties in Ukraine are as follows: Dagestan – 2,086 citizens lost; North Ossetia – 591; Kabardino-Balkaria – 469; Chechnya – 265; Karachaevo-Cherkesia – 204; and Ingushetia – 210.
The main developments in the North Caucasian republics over the past two weeks are outlined below.
Adyghea
The first traditional folklore festival, Djeguako, was held in Maykop. The event took place in the hachesh, the guest room of the Adygea National Museum. The festival opened with lectures by prominent Circassian philologists, Dr Raisa Unarokova and Dr Kazbek Nagorokov, who spoke about traditional Circassian wedding customs. The event also included meetings with scholars from Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachaevo-Cherkesia. During the festival, participants took part in a workshop on the traditional Circassian craft of matting, which has become increasingly popular among Circassian youth. The festival culminated in performances of traditional Circassian songs and dances.
Adygea remains a major centre of Circassian cultural activity. Despite Circassians constituting a minority in the republic, the Circassian academic elite of Adygea has, since the Soviet period, developed a substantial legacy of academic research and museums, preserving a vast reservoir of Circassian folklore. Various elements of Circassian folklore have gained popularity among Circassian youth, and are often blended with contemporary genres of music and other forms of art. This cultural richness contributes to the creation and reinforcement of Circassian nationalist narratives. Consequently, Russian authorities maintain tight centralised control over Circassian cultural activities in an effort to prevent them from spreading beyond academic and cultural institutions.
Karachaevo-Cherkesia
A tourist from Karachaevo-Cherkesia who violated Georgia’s occupation law by illegally entering occupied Abkhazia through the Psou border crossing between Russia and Georgia was assaulted by local criminals. The female visitor was severely beaten near a café in Sukhumi by a local resident, Akhra Kvekveskiri, who has several previous convictions. The de facto Minister of Internal Affairs, Robert Kiut, stated that the incident was under his personal control and that the perpetrator would be punished in accordance with the law.
The mistreatment of Russian tourists in Abkhazia is not a new phenomenon, but this is the first reported case of an assault on a resident of Karachaevo-Cherkesia. Ethnic Circassians and Abazins from the republic actively volunteered for the war in Abkhazia, and often express solidarity with Abkhaz separatists. Nevertheless, the high crime rate in the occupied territory means that tourists are not guaranteed safety, even if they come from regions that have actively supported Abkhazian separatism.
Kabardino-Balkaria
The head of Kabardino-Balkaria, Kazbek Kokov, held a meeting with representatives of the Institute of Humanitarian Studies of Kabardino-Balkaria, which is affiliated with Russia’s Ministry of Science. The meeting was dedicated to the institution’s 100th anniversary. Kokov thanked the institute’s employees, and emphasised its role in preserving the culture and traditions of local peoples. The institution employs more than 50 scholars with PhD degrees, and conducts research into various aspects of the languages, history, ethnology, literature, and culture of the Circassian and Balkar peoples.
Despite its prominent role in studying the culture of local peoples, the institute remains under the tight control of the Russian security services. In 2022, searches were conducted at the Institute of Humanitarian Studies after several of its employees participated in an online conference organised by the Circassian Cultural Centre of Georgia, which was later designated as a terrorist organisation by the Russian authorities. Given the institute’s importance in preserving Circassian culture and historical memory, Russian authorities are concerned that historical narratives might spread beyond the confines of academic institutions and contribute to the formation of nationalist sentiments.
North Ossetia
On 5 September, a youth football championship in honour of Nodar Papelishvili was held in Vladikavkaz. Local football schools, including Bars and Alania, participated in the tournament. Nodar Papelishvili was a Georgian footballer born in Tskhinvali who spent most of his career with Spartak Ordzhonikidze, the predecessor of FC Spartak-Alania. In 1969, Spartak Ordzhonikidze was promoted to the top tier of the Soviet football championship, with Papelishvili finishing as the club’s top goal-scorer. Papelishvili passed away in 2019 at the age of 79.
Despite the 2008 conflict in the Tskhinvali region and the widespread support for the separatist regime among Ossetian society, honouring an ethnic Georgian is not without precedent in North Ossetia. Vladikavkaz has been home to a significant Georgian community for centuries, with its members making important contributions to local society.
Football has often played a notable role in Georgian-Ossetian relations. During the 1990s, several prominent Georgian footballers, including Giorgi Demetradze, Levan Kobiashvili, and Georgia’s current president Mikheil Kavelashvili, played for Spartak-Alania.
Ingushetia
A child was wounded in Ingushetia during a police raid after officers pursued a car and opened fire, accidentally hitting the child. The child’s condition is stable but treatment is ongoing. The incident sparked outrage on social media among Ingush users, with commentators calling for the resignation and punishment of the police officer who opened fire.
The intensity of the reaction reflects the sensitivity of issues involving children’s safety and well-being in Ingush society. At the same time, the willingness of internet users to criticise the police points to deep-seated distrust of law enforcement agencies. Ingushetia has faced allegations of police brutality and abuses of power for decades, while concerns about the lack of accountability for those responsible have persisted.
Chechnya
In a Telegram post, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reported that 76,440 recruits had been sent from Chechnya to Ukraine. According to Kadyrov, 23,774 of them were volunteers, while approximately 14,000 were deployed “to the most difficult areas of the frontline.”
Chechnya has been among the leading Russian regions in supplying personnel to the frontline. Unlike other Russian regions, Kadyrov has pursued what has been described as de facto mobilisation, with multiple cases reported of people being sent to the frontline against their will.
Mobilisation has also repeatedly been used as a form of punishment, particularly against political opponents and their relatives, as well as people accused of drug use or gambling. Kadyrov’s administration also forces members of law enforcement agencies to deploy to the frontline, even when their duties do not involve combat activities.
Dagestan
Four Dagestanis have been convicted of joining a jamaat while serving prison sentences. According to the investigation, Idris Israfilov, Gayirbeg Kurmagomedov, Omar Abdulaev, and Shamil Rajabov voluntarily joined a terrorist jamaat that was formed between 2008 and 2011. While serving their sentences in a penitentiary in Dagestan, the inmates supplied one another with Islamist literature, attended informal Islamic classes, and disseminated their ideology. They were also found to be in possession of video and audio material depicting terrorist activities. They were sentenced to between six and seven years in prison.
Prison jamaats and the Islamisation of prisons are emerging phenomena in Russia. With the growing number of Central Asian and Caucasian inmates, some prisoners increasingly segregate themselves from others, refuse to follow the rules of the thieves’ world, and form jamaats. In some prisons, where they outnumber members of the thieves’ world, they have gained influence and created what are known as “green prisons.”
In some cases, ethnic Russian prisoners, particularly those who have problems with the thieves’ world, convert to Islam and join jamaats. Russian authorities are attempting to counter this phenomenon. In the future, the role of such jamaats is likely to increase within Russia’s penitentiary system and could contribute to the emergence of new organised crime groups.