NAZRAN, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - The president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia is back on his feet after last month's assassination attempt and has discussed security operations with his counterpart in neighboring Chechnya.
Yunus-Bek Yevkurov received serious head and internal injuries when a car bomb exploded as his motorcade passed by on June 22, and underwent a series of operations at a top Moscow clinic.
"The president is steadily on the mend. He can already stand and walk around. The president has taken control of the situation in Ingushetia and is up to date with everything happening there," a source in the presidential administration told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on Saturday that he and Yevkurov had discussed the security situation in the border area between Chechnya and Ingushetia.
"I had a telephone conversation with Yunus-Bek Yevkorov, who is undergoing medical treatment, and we agreed to continue joint efforts to eliminate militants," Kadyrov told RIA Novosti.
He added that Yevkurov was feeling good and said that he expected the Ingush leader to fully recover soon and return his duties.
"We agreed to keep up continuous communication and to inform each other about the situation in a timely fashion," Kadyrov said. "Yevkurov's health allows this."
Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus regions have seen a rise in violence in recent months. Attacks on police, officials and troops have been reported almost daily in Ingushetia and Dagestan.
A senior Ingush police officer, forensics chief Col. Magomed Gadaborshev, died on July 10 after a shooting, while Ingush Supreme Court judge Aza Gazgireyeva and Dagestan's interior minister, Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, were assassinated in June. In Chechnya on Wednesday, respected human rights activist Natalya Estemirova was abducted and killed.
