Putin replaces leader of Dagestan

Magomedov relieved of his post as head of the southwestern region

Russia replaced the leader of Dagestan, a volatile region in Northern Caucasus where federal forces are struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency.

President Vladimir Putin relieved Dagestani leader Magomedsalam Magomedov of his post and appointed ruling party lawmaker Ramazan Abdulatipov acting head of the southwestern region, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin said Magomedov had left the post of “his own volition”, but experts say he fell victim to infighting among the elites in the Caspian Sea region. He has been named deputy Kremlin chief of staff.

The Caucasus region of Chechnya was the scene of two separatist wars over the past 20 years but the violence over the past few years has moved to Dagestan.

The overwhelmingly Muslim region — home to dozens of different ethnic groups and languages — now experiences almost daily shootings and bombings that officials blame on local criminals and Islamists with links to Chechnya.

Fuelled by endemic poverty and corruption, the militants are seeking to establish an independent Islamic state

No matter who you appoint there, sooner or later Dagestan and possibly the entire Russian Caucasus will become an Islamist state.”

Yulia Latynina | an opposition political observer

across the North Caucasus. Over the past few years the region has seen a spate of violence that critics say Magomedov was unable to stop.

In 2011, a gunman shot dead leading local journalist Khadzhimurad Kamalov, who founded a newspaper known for fearless criticism of the local authorities.

Last August, the region was shocked by the murder of one of its most revered religious teachers, Said Afandi.

Some experts say Russia risks gradually losing control of Dagestan. Yulia Latynina, an opposition political observer who writes extensively on the Caucasus, said: “No matter who you appoint there, sooner or later Dagestan and possibly the entire Russian Caucasus will become an Islamist state,” she said on Echo of Moscow radio on Saturday.