November 2, 2005:
In Chechnya, a roadside bomb killed a Russian soldiers.
These bombs have become more common, as it becomes more difficult for rebels to
ambush police and troops, and get away with it. The large reduction in violence
in Chechnya is largely the result of more Chechen clans coming over to the
Russian side, and the expansion of the Chechen staffed police force in the
province.
November 1, 2005: A sixth Topol-M ICBM was tested, successfully. This test
used spoofing devices, intended to deceive American missile defenses. The
Topol-M is the most modern ICBM the Russians have.
October 31, 2005: In the first nine months of this year, kidnappings in
Chechnya were down by half (at 65), compared to last year. In the same period,
terrorist attacks (at 70), were down from 130 last year.
October 31, 2005: The government has agreed to share, with the U.S.,
information on portable surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) produced, and exported.
Nearly all the missiles of this type found in the hands of terrorists, have
been made in Russia. By sharing this information with the United States, it is
believed a better idea of how many SAMs are "in the wild" and likely
to be used in terrorist attacks.