News

Residents of the South-Ossetian capital reported interruptions with heating and water supply in their houses because of the electricity supply disconnection. To illuminate their apartments, the residents of Tskhinvali have to use church candles, since it is very difficult to find ordinary wax candles in stores.

Movsar Eskerkhanov, a refugee from Chechnya, said that he was forced to ask the authorities of the republic to forgive him for his coming-out.

More than 30,000 people have created their pages in the Mylistory social network after Ramzan Kadyrov got registered there, when his accounts in Facebook and Instagram were blocked, the press service of the government of Chechnya has reported. State Duma MPs and "Roskomnadzor" have demanded to explain the blocking of Kadyrov's accounts.

Aina Gamzatova, the editor-in-chief of the "Islam" magazine and the wife of the Mufti of Dagestan, has sent documents to the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) asking to register her as a candidate.

The Svaneti police are searching for a man who assassinated Lomar Niguriani, a Deputy of the Sakrebulo of the village of Mestia and the head of the district branch of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party.

Today, in Sochi, in the vicinity of which a plane of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) crashed a year ago, people held a memorial event to pay tribute to the memory of the victims. The mourning event was attended by several hundred city residents.

In Chechnya, security measures have been enhanced in connection with the information about terror acts in preparation for the New Year's holidays, reports a source of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

In Chechnya, the authorities have demanded that during pre-New Year morning performances at schools, schoolgirls should wear kerchiefs. This was reported by parents of schoolgirls and teachers.

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.