News

The Tambov Regional Court has upheld the decision of the Kirsanov District Court to replace the unserved part of the Evgeny Vitishko's sentence at the penal settlement-colony with restriction of liberty. The ecologist will serve the unserved part of his sentence in the Tuapse District of the Krasnodar Territory.

In total, 50 million roubles from the contingency fund of the Volgograd Region are planned to be allocated for the compensation to the people affected by the explosion at a residential building in Volgograd. Each family of the victims will be granted one million roubles.

The office and the rented apartment of Rufat Safarov, an investigator of the Zardob District Prosecutor's Office, have been searched. The investigator associates the searches with his letter of resignation as a sign of his disagreement with the policy of the Azerbaijani government.

Activist Darya Polyudova does not rule out that she will be arrested prior to the consideration of the appeal against the decision of the Oktiabrskiy District Court of Krasnodar, which has sentenced her to two years of imprisonment in a penal settlement-colony and left her free until the sentence comes into force.

In Armenia, opponents of the constitutional reform have completed regional meetings with citizens. The activists have claimed several provocations committed during the above events. Supporters of the Front of National Salvation "New Armenia" have made a decision to continue their sitting picket in Yerevan, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The fact that today in the evening, when removing debris of the flats in Volgograd, they found body fragments of another casualty, was reported by Natalia Kunitskaya, the press secretary of the Investigating Department (ID) for the Volgograd Region of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), who is quoted by the "Interfax".

Volgograd truckers have announced their intention to take part in a repeated stop of work in protest against the "Platon" system.

Today, the Oktiabrskiy District Court of Krasnodar has found the activist Darya Polyudova guilty of public calls to separatism and extremism, and sentenced her to two years of freedom deprivation in a colony-settlement. She was not taken into custody in the courtroom, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Members of one of the families who lived in the block of flats in Volgograd, where the explosion occurred, brought home and stored ammunition, and cylinders with gas and gasoline, but law enforcement bodies did not respond on neighbours reports, locals say.

A local resident Artyom Martynenko has been beaten up in the village of Kuschevskaya, KrasnodarTerritory. He was attacked after trying to agree about screening the documentary by Alexei Navalny on corrupt family businesses of Russian Public Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika in a local cinema.

The Chief Department for the Volgograd Region of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has denied the information on the discovery of a woman's body under a multi-storey building partly collapsed as a result of the explosion in Volgograd.

The court has received an appeal against the continued detention of Alexandra Ivanova (Varvara Karaulova), accused of an attempt to join the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS). This was reported by an official of the court.

Explosion in high-rise building in Volgograd that deprived hundred people of housing; start of trial on massacre of Avetisyan family in Armenia; meeting of presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 14-20, 2015, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Non-profit organizations (NPOs), which commit violations in their activities, face liquidation. This was reported by an official of the Chechen Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The conflict between Russia and Turkey has resulted in the increased pressure on repatriates in the republics of Northern Caucasus. This opinion was voiced by members of the Circassian Diaspora, who gathered for the protest action in front of the building of the Russian General Consulate in Istanbul.

During the week of December 14-20, 2015, at least 7 persons suffered in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, four persons were killed, and three others were 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 Dagestan, two incidents with air guns have occurred during the same day: in the Kazbek District, a local resident wounded an 11-year-old child in his eye, and in the Untsukul District, a teenager made a shot on a 12-year-old boy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reports. According to the police, both incidents occurred as a result of careless handling of weapons.

Today, at about 12:00 a.m. Moscow time, in Volgograd, an explosion occurred in a residential house. According to the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), the explosion in an apartment of a multi-storey building caused a collapse of blocks. As a result of the explosion in the residential building in Volgograd, a block of the building from the second to the ninth floors has collapsed.

In the period of December 13-20, 18 Armenian soldiers were killed, and more than 20 soldiers were wounded. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan.

Law enforcers suspect a 21-year-old female resident of the Rostov Region of having relations with members of illegal armed formations (IAFs) and of plotting a terror act. This was reported by sources from the law enforcement bodies. The information has not been confirmed officially. Relatives of the young woman claim that she is receiving medical treatment in Egypt.