KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday only economic and social development could quell an Islamist insurgency in Russia's north Caucasus and urged local leaders to back his new envoy to the impoverished region. In one of his boldest initiatives since coming to power in May 2008, Medvedev last week grouped the most violent provinces on ...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Saturday that extremists in the restive North Caucasus region had been "vanquished" and the fight now was against corruption and poverty. "The state must prove it is capable of guaranteeing security and must make a breakthrough in the economic and social development in North Caucasus," he said at a meeting with leaders from the ...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday ordered officials in the North Caucasus to ensure what he called the "normal work" of human rights groups operating in the volatile region. Human rights activists in and around Chechnya have been attacked and even killed in recent years in ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday Islamist rebels were being trained in neighboring Georgia to launch attacks in Chechnya and nearby regions, a state-run news agency reported. Russian officials have said that foreign training and funding has contributed to a surge in violence by Islamist insurgents in recent months in its volatile north Caucasus regions, including Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan ...