News

Today, in Sochi, court marshals have forcibly evicted Saveliev family members from a cottage occupied by them in the village for Olympic settlers. Adults and children were forced out of the gates of the house into the street in the presence of about 20 people who came to support the Saveliev family.

Two residents of Malgobek were hospitalized with gunshot wounds as a result of shelling at a vehicle service station. This was reported by the Investigating Department for Ingushetia of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). Both victims are relatives of Magomed Bekbuzarov, who was killed in an attack on a checkpoint of the road-and-patrol service (known as DPS), a source from the law enforcement agencies reports.

The pre-investigation check of the facts of persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya has become a real achievement on the way to investigate cruel repressions in the republic, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports. According to the edition, there is a split among the local law enforcers: while some of them hand over lists of prisoners of "secret prisons", the others put pressure on relatives of the victims.

Employees of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner in the Russian Federation will come to Chechnya to check the information about harassment of the LGBT community. After receiving the necessary information, Tatiana Moskalkova intends to visit the republic herself.

Explosion of gas, which destroyed an apartment building in Volgograd; special operation in Dagestan, during which four suspected militants were killed; extradition to Russia of soldier Valery Permyakov, sentenced for the mass murder in Armenia, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of May 15-21, 2017, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

About 4000 members of the Caucasian Diasporas in Turkey took part in the annual action to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Caucasian War. The mourning procession ended with laying a wreath with the inscription reading "153 years of the Circassian genocide" to the walls of the Consulate General of Russia in Istanbul, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

During the week of May 15-21, 2017, seven persons fell victim to the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, six were killed, and one person was wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Maikop, hundreds of people gathered in the city park to take part in a mourning procession dedicated to the 153rd anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War.

In Armenia, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has found no grounds in the demand of the opposition "Apricot Country" Party to cancel the results of the elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan and finally approved the results of the voting. According to the information announced by the Armenian CEC, the Republican Party of Armenian (RPA) gained 46 mandates, the "Elk" bloc 14, and the "Apricot Country" Party five.

In Nalchik, more than 2000 people took part in the procession held on the Circassian Memorial Day. According to residents of Nalchik, Circassians should maintain the unity, and the Circassian Memorial Day contributes to that.

In the Krasnodar Territory, officials of the law enforcement agencies have seized a party of mourning ribbons manufactured to the 153rd anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War. This was reported by Beslan Teuvazhev, a Circassian activist.

In Volgograd, members of the initiative group of tenants of a house destroyed in a gas explosion have demanded to oblige the "Volgogradgorgaz" to pay compensation to cover the cost of lost apartments, property and moral damage.

On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, in Yerevan, activists held an action in protest against an LGBT flag raised by the British Embassy in Armenia. Armenian activists have treated that act of the British Embassy as agitation and demanded public apologies.

In Makhachkala, members of the film crew of the American "PBS NewsHour" TV Channel, who were carrying out an edition's assignment, were detained together with believers of the mosque in Omarov Street after Friday prayers. In an hour and a half, the journalists were released and left the region.

In Astrakhan, participants of two pickets have informed the public about Alexei Navalny and also searched for volunteers to collect signatures for his registration as a presidential candidate. Each picket involved up to 10 people.

Medical officers of the Medical Department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have pronounced diagnose of varicose veins for blogger Mekhman Guseinov sentenced for two years of imprisonment. However, they rejected the need for surgery. An advocate of the blogger does not agree with the decision of the medical officers.

Yakha Beksultanova, who had complained to Ramzan Kadyrov about the inaction of the authorities after the fire in Grozny, which deprived 95 people of their housing, brought a public apology.

On May 19, clients of the "MegaFon" mobile operator in the Southern and North-Caucasian Federal Districts (SFD and NCFD) reported about interruptions with mobile communication and Internet. Problems were not massive, the mobile operator stated.

One of the suspects killed in an armed clash in the Dagestani village of Karamakhi has been identified as Nasu Ataev, a 40-year-old leader of the "Kadar" militant grouping. Three of his subordinates were killed together with him, the "Kommersant" reports with reference to a source from the law enforcement agencies.

The lawsuit lodged to the International Criminal Court (ICC) with a demand to check the information about mass killings of people of non-traditional sexual orientation in Chechnya is aimed at increasing pressure on Russia to "save human lives." This was stated by activists of LGBT associations-initiators of the lawsuit.