The bbcrussian.com special brings together bloggers from across North Caucasus

PRESS RELEASE

London, 17 August 2009

Five years on from the Beslan hostage drama, the security situation in the North Caucasus is deteriorating. The website of BBC Russian - bbcrussian.com - has teamed up with the web publication, "Caucasian Knot" (kavkaz-uzel.ru) to launch a major editorial initiative, engaging online audiences in a discussion about key issues faced by people in the North Caucasus.

Capture of the School No 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia, with pupils, teachers and parents on the first day of school in September 2004 led to the worst civilian atrocity of the Chechen war. Starting today, the North Caucasus through the Bloggers' Eyes project brings together writers from across the region with their takes on the situation in this volatile part of Russia.

The bbcrussian.com and "Caucasian Knot" will offer a forum for bloggers from Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia (all the blogs are in Russian) to discuss life around them as they see it every day. The bloggers will share their views about politics, religion, education, security, holidays and many other issues. They'll also look at whether Beslan has been able to recover from the event which destroyed so many lives.

Zoya Trunova, editor of bbcrussian.com, says: "News from the North Caucasus increasingly resembles reports from battlegrounds. How do people live their lives in this unstable region? The North Caucasus through the Bloggers' Eyes offers our audiences a rare opportunity to engage with the region directly, first-hand."

Grigory Shvedov, editor of "Caucasian Knot", adds: "It is important for "Caucasian Knot" to add a human dimension to the events which, due to their semi-military character, escape the attention of traditional news agencies and mass media."

The bbcrussian.com and "Caucasian Knot" audiences will have the opportunity to ask bloggers their questions and engage in discussions with them.