News

Military incidents on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan; re-arrest of Ingush activist Akhmed Pogorov; FSB reports about the detention of suspected terrorists in the Stavropol Territory; deadline for accepting applications for participation in the parliamentary elections in Armenia, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of May 24-30, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Almost 170 applications had submitted for participation in the ethno-contest "Goryanka of the Year" ("Goryanka" means a highlander woman, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"). The winner was Fatima Magomedova from the village of Ratlub, Shamil District. The organizers and participants have noted the value of such contests for preserving the traditions of Dagestani nations and the interest of young people in them.

Ramzan Kadyrov's words are not offensive and require no reaction, Khabib Nurmagomedov has explained his refusal to debate with the head of Chechnya, who called the Dagestani fighter an "UFC project".

Azerbaijan is provoking tensions on the Armenian border in order to influence the outcome of the Armenian parliamentary elections, Nikol Pashinyan, the Acting Premier, has stated and treated the Moscow's proposal to create a trilateral commission on the demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as acceptable for Yerevan.

After the war, instead of strengthening the borders, Onik Gasparyan, a former Armenian General Staff Commander, of was engaged in political intrigues, Nikol Pashinyan, the acting Prime Minister, has stated.

Timur Tumgoev, a native of Vladikavkaz, took part in a prisoners' hunger strike in the colony and cut himself in protest against custody conditions; now, he faces a new prison term under the article on disrupting the work of the correctional institution.

If Russian peacemakers are placed on Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the parties may drag Russia into a conflict to be used against each other, the Russian military analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The state prosecutor believes that Said-Mukhammad Djumaev, a native of Chechnya, deserves a punishment of five years in a general security colony, a source familiar with the trial has informed.

Armenian militaries can be withdrawn from the Azerbaijani border at any moment, provided the simultaneous withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops, Nikol Pashinyan, the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, has stated.

The Dagestan branch of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) has banned swimming and bathing on the beaches of Makhachkala, explaining this by the risk of getting parasitic and intestinal infections. Instagram users demanded to liquidate the unsanitary status of beaches instead of closing them.

French authorities are deliberately violating international rules by deporting natives of Chechnya from France to Russia, where they are at risk of torture and ill-treatment, French human rights defenders have declared in their joint statement.

Lana Sokhieva, a young philologist from Vladikavkaz, has created a linguistic conversation club of the Ossetian language. The first session was attended by 13 people, but many residents of the republic are interested in the club, the creator has noted.

The Kutaisi City Court has postponed the trial of the protesters against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in the Rioni Gorge. Eight detainees were released in the courtroom.

The pastures of the village of Kut in the Gegarkunik Region of Armenia have come under the control of Azerbaijani troops; and in the absence of land for cattle breeding, villagers will have to leave their houses, a local resident has stated.

The advocate of Alexander Ponomarenko, accused of involvement in the attack on Dagestan with the militants of Basaev and Khattab, has stated that the charges had not been proved; however, the court has upheld the decision to arrest him.

The Foreign Service of the European Union (EU) has welcomed the offer to place observers on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, urging the parties to start talks on the border delimitation.

While commenting on an attack on a referee and players of the Moscow football club during a match with the “Akhmat” Football Club (FC) in Grozny, human rights defenders Svetlana Gannushkina and Ruslan Kutaev have noted that in Chechnya, athletes feel like an elite and try to copy the behaviour of the republic’s leaders.

As a result of the agreement on the new administrative border between Ingushetia and Chechnya in September 2018, the third part of the Erzi Nature Reserve ended up on the territory of Chechnya. After the beating of the employees of the natural park, the work in the Chechen sector is no longer carried out, the administration of the Erzi Nature Reserve reports.

In response to the media reports about threats against residents of Chechnya who do not want to be vaccinated against coronavirus, Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the tough anti-epidemic measures taken by the Chechen authorities do not contradict the policy of President Vladimir Putin.

The positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces were shelled from the Armenian side on the border with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, and soldier Elkhan Muradov was wounded as a result of the shelling attack, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported. Armenian military officials called the information unreliable.