News

On August 16, the average waiting time at the border between Russia and Georgia reduced down to 2-3 hours, the Federal Customs Service of Russia reported. According to tourists, they actually spent in queues about seven hours.

The head of Chechnya has ordered to look for the eight-year-old girl, who went missing in Dagestan in late July, by involving the Chechnya's representative offices and communities in Russian regions, Zhambulat Umarov, the Minister for National Policy of Chechnya, has stated today.

The judge, who has released Robert Kocharyan, a former president of Armenia from arrest, had to take self-disqualification, as he had worked in Kocharyan's administration and passed sentences "on the March 1 case," the head of the Special Investigating Service (SIS) of Armenia has stated today. The Kocharyan's defence treats it as pressure on the court.

Five people were injured and one perished in an explosion in the "Obukhovskaya" Mine in the town of Zverevo, Rostov Region, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has reported.

The duration of the inquiry into the attack on journalists and rights defenders in Ingushetia on the border with Chechnya has been extended and by October 25 will make 30 months, Yegor Skovoroda has informed. Investigators fail to take any real action to capture the criminals, the suffered journalists say.

A video appeal of the Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev and a video clip on behalf of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, are intended to mislead the society, the rights defenders Tatiana Lokshina and Svetlana Gannushkina are convinced a year after the singer's disappearance.

Investigators have conducted an inadequate check of the statements of three residents of the city of Anapa about torture, and again refused to initiate criminal cases, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) has stated today. Rights defenders demand a deeper investigation.

The investigator of the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Division) was unable to confirm to the court today that the search witnesses supervised in detail the inspection of Oyub Titiev's car.

Armenian militaries have shelled positions of the Azerbaijani Army by using large-calibre machine guns, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence has stated today.

The USA, the European Union and the Council of Europe, while welcoming the release of Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the Republican Alternative (ReAl) Party in Azerbaijan, have urged official Baku to release all the persons arrested for the implementation of their fundamental freedoms.

In the Stavropol Territory, law enforcers detained two Jehovah's Witnesses to check their involvement in extremist activities; however, later they were released, Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses*, has stated. In general, Jehovah's Witnesses* are now almost in the same situation as in the Soviet era, said Alexei Makarov, a rights defender.

The military exercise "Noble Partner-2018" ended in demonstrative training fights, during which Georgian militaries used the American Javelin anti-tank missile complex for the first time.

Rescuers have inspected the "Silachi" Hotel in Yerevan after a call was received from an unknown man, who threatened to blow up the building. The explosive device was not found.

Today, the body of a man found in a neutral strip between positions of the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, was handed over to the Azerbaijani authorities with the mediation of international organizations.

Dagestan and Chechnya are among the top three Russian regions with the largest number of schools, where overstated marks were found by the "Rosobrnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science).

About 9000 pilgrims have left for the Hajj from the Makhachkala Airport, which has organized 40 charter flights to execute the departure phase of the Hajj campaign.

Ismail Demelkhanov, an expert, told the court how he participated in the seizure of marijuana from Oyub Titiev's car, but could not comment on any other circumstances of his detention.

One of the heaviest memories of the Five-Day War, which ended 10 years ago, for residents of Georgia are linked with Russian air strikes and tanks in the outskirts of Tbilisi.

Today, in Yerevan, employees of the government building were evacuated because of an explosion threat in the Ministry of Public Health. The man who threatened to blow up the Ministry has been established, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Today, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported that the owners of the kindergarten in Astrakhan, who were arrested after a video was posted with roped children, have been charged. Investigators have a new video depicting cruel treatment of children in the kindergarten, a source has stated.