July 11, 2006: Russia still has several groups of terrorists loose in Chechnya, always have and always will. But the most effective Islamic terrorists have moved outside of Chechnya. Terrorists in general, and Islamic terrorists in particular, are unpopular with most Chechens. Historically, there are short periods of violence in Chechnya, followed by a generation or two of peace. The current spasm of violence is coming to an end.
July 10, 2006: Russian commandos killed Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev in Ingushetia, next to Chechnya. Basayev had been the organizer of several high profile terrorist attacks, including the 2004 Beslan school massacre. Basayev has been leading Islamic terrorists for about a decade. While Basayevs followers admitted that their guy was dead, they insisted it was because of an accident (220 pounds of explosives went off in the truck he was riding in).
July 6, 2006: The first two of 24 Su-30 fighters, bought by Venezuela, arrived in Venezuela. Russia is having increasing success selling the Su-27 line of jet fighters (which include the Su-30, and several other variants.)
July 5, 2006: In Ingushetia, next to Chechnya, Islamic terrorists killed a soldiers and a taxi driver in another of several attacks that occur each month.
July 4, 2006: In Chechnya, a military convoy was ambushed and seven soldiers killed.
July 1, 2006: The government has used government and regulatory pressure to keep Voice of America and Radio Free Europe news broadcasts out of most of Russia. State control of the media is not as complete as it was during the Soviet period, but it's getting close.