News

Members of 92 families who were evicted from their houses in the centre of Shali because of renovation, moved into new houses on the outskirts of the city. The authorities reported on the high quality of housing, but some residents of new buildings described them with scepticism.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, a Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, a native of Dagestan, has won the champion title in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after he defeated Alexander Jay Iaquinta New York.

During the festive Easter service, armed policemen were guarding the entrance to the Kizlyar church, where in February parishioners were shot dead. The attack rallied the Orthodox community, without affecting the inter-confessional relations, local residents have noted.

Khamzat Kadyrov, a 21-year-old nephew of the head of Chechnya, a son of Ramzan Kadyrov's elder brother Zelimkhan, who died in 2004, was appointed deputy head of the administration of the Kurchaloi District of Chechnya. The local public figures interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe that by appointing relatives for high positions, Kadyrov strengthens his personal rule.

A young man was wounded by an explosion of a mine in the Tavush Region, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has reported.

The Georgian authorities have offered residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to use the "Step to Better Future" programme, which provides for the expansion of trade ties, support for common business projects, training at Georgian universities and chances to visit EU countries without a visa.

The police have detained two law enforcers on suspicion of killing a man in the settlement of Elbrus, a source said. According to local residents, the man refused to give them a lift; and this triggered a conflict.

On April 1-7, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired more than 3000 shots at the positions of the Defence Army, reports the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for Nagorno-Karabakh. To do this various types of small arms were used.

The Azerbaijani authorities try to manipulate the public opinion by disseminating fake news via the Internet, discrediting Western democratic institutions and organizing trolling attacks on the pages of their critics in social networks. This was stated by journalists and human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

A Yerevan court has arrested for two months Maxim Baidak, a Muslim activist, the press secretary of the Association of Russian Muhajirs of Turkey, a blogger and political analyst, also known as Salman Sever. He is suspected of forging documents and illegally crossing the Armenian border.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has spoken against the blocking of the Telegram Messenger in Russia, pointing out that he uses it for personal and business purposes. It happened after the "Roskomnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) has filed a lawsuit seeking to restrict access to the Telegram in Russia.

The investigation into the murder of Khadjimurad Kamalov, a founder of the Dagestani newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), did not advance for a long time, since the law enforcement bodies were not interested to resolve the crime and from the very beginning, they had information about involvement of a top-ranking official in the crime. This was stated by Ali Kamalov, the head of the Dagestani Union of Journalists. 

Family members unsuccessfully try to find out the whereabouts of Usman Lorsanov, a resident of Grozny, whom law enforcers had taken away from their house in late March. Relatives fear for the fate of the young man, since his brother was killed after detention in 2017.

The sanctions imposed by the US Department of the Treasury cover Vladimir Ustinov, the Russian president's plenipotentiary in the Southern Federal District (SFD); Suleiman Kerimov, the Senator from Dagestan; and Oleg Govorun, who is in charge of relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Belgium has accepted five LGBTs from Chechnya to protect them from persecutions in their homeland. This was reported by Theo Franken, the State Secretary for Asylum and Migration.

The risk of a large-scale war for Nagorno-Karabakh is minimal, Yerevan military experts believe. However, they did not rule out a new escalation, which may results in more victims than those recorded by the "Caucasian Knot" during the second year of the truce.

The case opened against the resident of the Tlyaratin District, who damaged a video camera of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at a rally in Makhachkala, has been sent to the court.

A criminal case against residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, suspected of plotting an attempt on a law enforcer, has been brought to court, the Prosecutor's Office reports.

A court refused to grant the appeals filed by three activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) arrested in Baku before a rally against the early presidential election. The leader of the PFPA announced the political persecution of activists.

On April 5, the Presnya Court of Moscow extended until May 11 the arrest of Ramzan Tsitsulaev, the former plenipotentiary of the Chechen leader in Ukraine.