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In Tbilisi, the court found Mikhail Kalandiya guilty of killing schoolchildren and sentenced him to 11 years and three months of imprisonment. The defence decided to appeal against the verdict.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Azerbaijan has found no grounds for initiating a criminal case on the statement of Ali Kerimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), about the torture he had suffered after being detained at a protest rally in Baku. Mr Kerimli has demanded to oblige the GPO to conduct an inquiry.

The apologies of the residents of Chechnya detained for providing occult services were complemented by the "Grozny" TV Channel with repentances of their sons, who confessed to failure to keep track of their parents. The involvement of young people in persecuting their relatives was treated as excessive by residents of Chechnya and Instagram users.

An action against the actions of the new leadership of the Adjara TV was held in Batumi. Protesters claimed the unfair dismissal of the TV channel's employees, in particular, of Maya Merkviladze, the deputy director of the news service.

Authorities of Dagestan are unwilling to address the issue of restoring the Aukh District; while the programme adopted in the republic supports only the technical part for the resettlement of the Laks, activists from among Akkin Chechens assert. Journalists argue about the possibility of Chechnya's claims to the Aukh District in the future.

Chechen authorities have acted inconsistently by organizing a mourning rally on the 76th anniversary of Vainakhs' deportation after the earlier ban on commemorative events imposed on residents of Chechnya on that day. The rally was not announced; and only officials and law enforcers took part in it, local residents have complained.

The October 2019 cyber attack on Georgian agencies and media portals posed a threat to the country's security and was similar to a military attack, officials and the expert, Mamuka Zhgenti, believe. Georgia was targeted as part of standard militaries' cyber exercises, Vakhtang Maisaya, a doctor of political science, has stated in his turn.

Till present, a complaint filed to the police in connection with the disappearance in Grozny of three residents of Derbent has not brought any results, relatives of the disappeared men report. On February 23, a mother of Nillan Aliev held a solo picket at which she asked Ramzan Kadyrov to help in the search for her son.

On February 23, in Ankara and Istanbul, Circassian activists held protest actions with the demand to Russia to recall Ambassador Alexei Erkhov. The diplomat's apologies for his statements about allegedly voluntary resettlement of Circassians to Turkey during the Caucasian war are not credible, the protesters explain.

Ibragim Veliev, a border guard soldier, was killed in a shootout with Armenian soldiers, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan reported. On February 23, an Armenian soldier was slightly wounded during a shelling attack from the Azerbaijani side, the Ministry of Defence of Armenia reported.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) requested the Russian authorities to submit a clarification concerning a complaint filed by Ziyavudin Ashikov, the former acting head of the Kaspiysk Police Department, for unreasonable detention in custody. This was reported by advocate Sapiyat Magomedova.

Border guards detained a 17-year-old Georgian citizen near the border line with South Ossetia, the Georgian State Security Service reported.

Members of the Gaisultanov family forgave a member of the Alkhazov family after he swore he had not been involved in the murder of their relative. Beslan Alkhazov, who was sentenced for the murder, still faces a blood feud, residents of Chechnya note.

Commemoration of victims of Chechens' and Ingushes' deportation; release of Vano Merabishvili, former Georgia's Premier, from custody; registration of presidential candidates in Abkhazia; victory of Elista activists at cassation court, – read about these events in the following review of major events in the Caucasus during February 17-23, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Still, today, 76 years later, on February 23, the deportation memory remains the unconditional priority for Chechens, analysts believe. The Chechen authorities' long-term attempts to substitute the date of grief have failed, Ruslan Kutaev, the head of the "Assembly of Caucasian Nations", has stated.

On February 23, actions in memory of victims of the Chechens' and Ingushes' deportation in 1944 were held in major European cities. Natives of Chechnya are afraid to participate in public events even in emigration, feeling a threat from the republic's authorities, activists have noted.

They believe that Georgia pays too little attention to the battles of Georgian troops against Soviet forces in February 1921.

During an attempt of gas workers to disconnect the house from gas supply, policemen used force against the owners, Irina Baskaeva, a resident of Karachayevsk, has stated. The gas service refers to Baskaevs' indebtedness, but the latter deny it.

Shamil Malkanduev, a singer, having become a transgender, has disgraced his kin, commentators on the Instagram public "Nalchik" believe. Other debaters treat his decision as his private matter, and urged not to condemn him.

By having ordered to seize untended land plots in Grozny, Ramzan Kadyrov encroaches on the private property right, some Instagram users believe, while others consider that by such measures, the Chechen authorities are solving the pressing city problem.