News

Ikram Ragimov, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani website "Realliq.info", was released on conditional early relief (CER) by a court's decision, since he had served two-thirds of his prison sentence. The journalist believes that his criminal prosecution was unfounded.

Family members of captured military personnel reasonably demand from the Armenian authorities the security guarantees for their relatives and friends who were captured in the post-war period, notes human rights defender Arthur Sakunts. The possibilities of the Armenian authorities in the exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) are limited, his colleague Nina Karapetyants suggests.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh has published a list of 45 soldiers who perished during the conflict escalation. According to the MoD, the total number of casualties among military servicemen has reached 1870.

Russian militaries have escorted a convoy of buses with 466 refugees from Yerevan to Stepanakert. The total number of residents who have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh with the support of peacemakers has exceeded 44,000, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

Sergey Marakov, an advocate, accused of drug storage, was detained in Grozny because of his professional activities, the human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The authorities began transferring one-time help to those residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who had lost their homes as a result of the Karabakh conflict. It is possible to live on this money only for a couple of months; authorities should extend payments and start creating workplaces, the residents of Stepanakert interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Relatives of the Armenian soldiers captured during the clash in the Gadrut District have appealed to Rustam Muradov, the commander of Russian peacemakers in Nagorno-Karabakh, with a request to assist in releasing them.

Azerbaijani officials have performed the demarcation of the border and demanded that a part of the Armenian village of Shurnukh be transferred to Azerbaijan, said the village head. Shurnukh and the village of Vorotan in the Syunik District are disputable areas on the border, Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Premier, has admitted.

The total number of activists detained on December 24, during the rally of Nikol Pashinyan's opponents has reached 94. The protesters treat the police's actions as particularly harsh.

The law enforcers, whom the authors of the investigative journalism believe to be involved in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, had flown to Grozny and Vladikavkaz and could carry out special missions there, Hristo Grozev, a Bellingcat journalist and the author of the investigation into the attempt on Navalny, has suggested in his interview with the Meduza.

Alexander Ivanov, who was a member of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, has been buried in Bashkortostan today. The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not report about his death.

At the opposition rally held in the centre of Yerevan, the police have detained 77 people, some of whom have already been released, the police report.

Today, Bagaudin Myakiev, who served his sentence in a case on clashes with the police, has posted on the Internet a photo with a poster, in which he pointed to the freedom of assembly guaranteed by the Constitution and demanded to release participants of the protest in Magas.

A cortege of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan broke through the crowd of protesters and drove away from the government building. The police reported about 69 people detained at the protest action.

In Yerevan, the Armenian capital, policemen have set up a cordon around the government building aiming to prevent the disruption of the parliament session by supporters of the opposition who demand Pashinyan's resignation.

Russian peacemakers have escorted another column of buses with 488 refugees from Yerevan to Stepanakert, making the total number of returnees in excess of 43,000 people, the Russian Ministry of Defence has informed today.

The civilians found in the forest in the Gadrut District have been discharged from the hospital and placed under doctors' supervision, while the soldiers had received frostbite and continue their treatment at hospital, a source from the medical centre in Stepanakert has informed.

It is not difficult to identify those killed in counterterrorist operations (CTOs); therefore, Chechen law enforcers should explain their mistake in identifying Kazbek Baidulaev and other persons killed in CTOs, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Relatives of eleven residents of the village of Anzorei, whom investigators had treated as members of an extremist community, told the "Caucasian Knot" that they knew nothing about Sharia patrols. The case files indicate that the defendants had intimidated local residents with threats and beatings.

Oksana Sotieva, Inal Djabiev's widow, has asked Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, to help in achieving punishment of those responsible for her husband's death; she relies on Medvedev's great authority in South Ossetia.