News

Two residents of the village of Elin-Yurt (Gvardeiskoe) were detained in Chechnya after the explosion at the dam of the Chernorechensk Reservoir. The whereabouts of the detainees is unknown, said a local resident.

On March 1, four parents of many children went in Volgograd on the so-called rotating hunger strike, demanding solution of their housing problems.

The investigator, who earlier was in charge of the inquiry into the 2009 murder of the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, has been appointed to head the group of investigators to run the inquiry into the murder of politician Boris Nemtsov.

Digging a pit for new apartment blocks has begun today near No. 59 inGamidov Avenue in Makhachkala. Local residents tried to block the process, but they were hustled off by policemen.

Commemoration of assassinated Russian politician Boris Nemtsov in regions of Southern Russia; events dedicated to the 71st anniversary of deportation of Vainakhs; protest rally in Yerevan on anniversary of events on March 1, 2008, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of February 23-March 1, 2015, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

This morning, an armed attack on policemen has been committed in the Babayurt District of Dagestan. The attacker was killed by return fire.

At the conference of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), which was held on March 1 inKrasnodar, the members of the organization declared the campaign against the development of the SochiNational Park and the Caucasian Reserve, which had been awarded a special status, to be their priority for the next six months.

Participants of a picket held in Astrakhan as a part of the all-Russian campaign "Vesna" (Spring), have paid tribute to Boris Nemtsov. They have also expressed their hope that his death will cause the oppositionists to stick together, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

During the week from February 23 to March 1, 2015, at least 23 people fell victim to armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Of them, 17 people were killed and six others wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Relatives of Djabu Magomedov, a resident of the Kizilyurt District, cannot get official information about his whereabouts since February 26. According to a source in the Kizilyurt GOVD (City Interior Department), Djabu Magomedov is suspected of aiding and abetting members of illegal armed formations (IAFs), and he is in Makhachkala.

Today, in Moscow, the mourning procession in memory of murdered politician Boris Nemtsov has gathered 50,000-70,000 people, organizers of the action report. One of the key attributes in the hands of participants of the action was represented by the Russian flag. In this particular case, it symbolized the people of Russia and not the President, said Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Committee "Civil Assistance".

On March 1, members of the opposition movements in Rostov-on-Don held a rally in the Sedov city square to pay tribute to the memory of politician Boris Nemtsov murdered a day before. Following the event, the resolution was adopted with the demand for an independent investigation into the murder and the immediate cessation of the war in Ukraine.

Today, Anatoly Boltykhov, an organizer of the march "Vesna" (Spring) in Volgograd, has been released from the police station after two days of administrative arrest. He intends to appeal against the court's decision.

In Yerevan, Freedom Square hosted a rally dedicated to the seventh anniversary of the tragic events of March 1, 2008. According to organizers, the rally was attended by about 10,000 people.

In Chechnya, Nikolai Mordvin, an officer of the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), died from injuries he got in an explosion that occurred on February 28.

In Azerbaijan, oppositional activists and experts have condemned the murder of the prominent Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, stating that his death is "a blow to democratic forces not only in Russia, but throughout the world."

The situation along the entire perimeter of the border with Georgia is satisfactory, the South-Ossetian party said during a meeting in Ergneti. At the same time, South Ossetia continues defending its right on the disputed section along the border, Khokh Gagloity, the head of the South-Ossetian delegation, said after the meeting in Ergneti.

The experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent treat the version of Boris Nemtsov's murder for the reasons of religious extremism least likely. Nemtsov was killed for his oppositional activities, said the politicians Vladimir Ryzhkov and Konstantin Merzlikin.

As stated by the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the investigators, who run the inquiry into Boris Nemtsov's murder, consider an Islamic-extremist trace as a version of the crime. The investigators suggest that the reason for the murder could be in Nemtsov's position with respect to the execution of the staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Today, about 100 residents of Sochi have left for Moscow to attend the funeral of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead in the Russian capital. The politician was an honest and open person, say the residents of Sochi, who personally knew Nemtsov.