News

Killing of eight suspected militants during special operations conducted in three regions of Northern Caucasus; armed attack on a Rostov journalist of the "Caucasian Knot"; vote of confidence in an updated government of Georgia; release of Chechen activist Ruslan Kutaev from a penal colony; second dismissal of an appeal against the verdict to Astrakhan activist Igor Stenin; inclusion of the Chechen leader in the US sanctions list, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 18-24, 2017, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

On December 24 and at night on December 25, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire for 156 times by using heavy machine guns, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated, not specifying any victims of the shelling.

During the week of December 18-24, 2017, at least eight persons were killed in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. No wounded were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The interests of American investors in Georgia have not been taken into account; and this should be answered in the form of US sanctions against Georgian authorities, the Congressman Steve Russell has stated. Irakli Kiknavelidze, a Georgian oppositionist, has treated Russell's claims as an alarm signal.

The humanitarian organizations "HALO Trust" and "ONEArmenia" continue fundraising for demining the field near Arar village in the Kashatag District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

Since the start of the year, more than 90,000 tourists have visited Chechnya, which is 20 percent more than during the same period in 2016. On the New Year holidays, over 8000 tourists are expected in Chechnya, the Committee on Tourism at the Republic's Government has stated.

In Stavropol, policemen and Cossacks launched raids to identify leasing apartments. The city authorities explained the purpose of the raids by protection of people from terror.

At Saturday night, accounts of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Facebook and Instagram were inaccessible. In the afternoon on Saturday, Ramzan Kadyrov responded to the blocking of his accounts and accused the US authorities of that.

US Senator Marco Rubio has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to remove all accusations from journalist Afghan Mukhtarly and release him from prison.

On December 22, Vahan Martirosyan, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of Armenia, met a group of activists of the "Right-Hand Drive" initiative group. The activists suggested him to revoke the draft decision on the ban of right-hand drive cars and set up a commission to study all the problems of driving right-hand cars in Armenia, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

A rally against the oil refinery was held in the village of Berikei in the Derbent District. More than 800 people took part in the action. The claims against the operation of the plant were also voiced by residents of the neighbouring village of Djemikent, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) has condemned the decisions in the cases against Aziz Orudjev, the executive director of the "Kanal-13" TV Channel, and blogger Mekhman Guseinov. The IRFS has come to the conclusion that overall pressure against the independent media of Azerbaijan is accompanied by tightening of the authorities' control over the Internet.

In Yerevan, participants of a motor rally have demanded to withdraw the bill to ban import of right-hand-drive cars to Armenia.

The Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala has returned the case of journalist Idris Yusupov, who was detained on charges of disobedience to law enforcers, back to the police to correct the deficiencies.

A criminal case has been opened on the fact of an armed attack on Vyacheslav Prudnikov, a "Caucasian Knot" journalist, under Article 115 "Deliberate infliction of slight health damage" of the Russian Criminal Code. All night long a policeman was on duty in Prudnikov's hospital ward.

On December 19, the Moscow International University of International Relations (known as MGIMO) hosted a scientific and practical seminar on the topic "Nikolai Fyodorovich Dubrovin – a Classic of Russian Caucasus Studies" dedicated to the historian's jubilee. December 8 is the 180th anniversary of his birth.

Today, Idris Yusupov, a correspondent of the Dagestani newspaper "Novoe Delo", has been brought to the ROVD (District Interior Division) after he recorded on video raids by law enforcers near a Salafi mosque. He was accused of disobeying the demands of policemen, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) explained.

Today, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has drawn attention to the problem of persecution of LGBT community members in Chechnya.

On December 21, at the checkpoint "Verkhny Lars" in North Ossetia, border guards detained a foreigner suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.

The eviction of Isa Yamadaev's family members was accompanied by beatings, a source from the "Rosbalt" reports.