News

The Russian side let armed men to illegally bring to the territory of the Russian Federation 16 orphans, Ukrainian citizens, who were kidnapped on June 12 in the city of Snezhnoye. This was announced by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). This has been clarified today by the press service of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

Military vehicles, including three tanks, have arrived in the Donetsk Region through the Rostov section of the Russian-Ukrainian border. This was reported on June 12 by Arsen Avakov, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs.

In Sochi, about 30 residents of the two dilapidated houses No. 5 and No. 7 in Esaulenko Street complain about unlawful, in their opinion, resettlement to a house built for volunteers of the Olympic Games. According to the residents, they are provided with insufficient accommodation.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has adopted for consideration the complaint filed by advocate Oksana Preobrazhenskaya, Director of the "Centre for International Protection", against the fact of the death of prisoner Tarkhan Kartoev, who died on June 29, 2013, at the penal colony IK-2 in Yekaterinburg. According to Oksana Preobrazhenskaya, the complaint contains a request to recognize the fact that the Tarkhan Kartoev's death was resulted from torture.

Today, about 50 Muslims have declared hunger strike at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). They are protesting against the obstruction in the performance of religious rites. This was reported by bloggers.

Today, festivities in honour of the Russia's Independence Day were held in Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Astrakhan and Maikop. In Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don, celebrations were accompanied by protests.

Today, in front of the courthouse in Yerevan, where the case of the "Million Mask March" is considered, an action in support of the defendants was held. More than a hundred people demanded "to release political prisoners," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

On June 12, celebrated as the Day of Russia, a mass festive demonstration was held in the centre of Grozny, the Chechen capital. "The total number of participants may exceed one hundred thousand persons," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Mayoralty.

Today, at 6:15 a.m. Moscow time, the dwelling settlements of Zalukodes, Zolskoe, Svetlovodskoe and Shardakovo of the Zolsky District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) were put under the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime. During a special operation in the forest in the outskirt of Svetlovodskoe, three militants who opened fire at law enforcers were killed.

Today, the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and Rasa Ostrauskaite, Deputy Director of the OSCE Centre for Conflict Prevention, arrived in the Rostov Region, where they visited the temporary accommodation centres (TACs) of Ukrainian refugees who came to the Rostov Region.

In Azerbaijan, the publication of the newspaper "Mirror" has been suspended because of financial problems, and the suspension is not associated with the prosecution against journalist Rauf Mirkadirov. This was announced by Elchin Shikhly, the newspaper's editor-in-chief. According to him, the fate of the newspaper remains uncertain, and the newspaper's staff members are on unpaid leaves.

On June 11, in Astrakhan, near the monument to Ilya Ulyanov, city residents held a rally sanctioned by the city authorities in support of the referendum on the direct election of the city Mayor. The rally was organized by Oleg Shein, the leader of the local branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party.

On June 11, the civil initiative "Save Afrikyans' Clubhouse" organized a protest action against the demolition of the house No. 11 in Teryan Street in the centre of Yerevan. Protestors filmed a video, in which city residents expressed their attitude to the decision to demolish the building.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has decided to close its office in Nazran. This was reported on June 11 by the press service of the ICRC.

On June 11, at about 8:00 p.m., in Gadjiev Street in Makhachkala, policemen shot and killed a man who opened fire on them. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by a source in the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). No policeman suffered.

Tonight, in Rostov-on-Don, a member of the diplomatic mission from Sri Lanka was killed, his colleague was wounded, said a regional law enforcement source, adding that suspects have been detained.

In the Krasnodar Territory, an activist Darya Polyudova spent a night at the police station and was fined for petty hooliganism during her solo pickets against felling the Pioneer Grove near Novorossiysk, the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" reports.

Yusup Lakaev, a Russian citizen, a resident of Grozny, who was detained in the Georgian city of Batumi, was sentenced by the local court to 12 years in prison.

At SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 in Baku, Bashir Suleimanli, the executive director of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEM&DT), is not allowed to meet his relatives, his advocate Fariz Namazly told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. In its turn, the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan has refuted this information.

The villages of Blutan and Tsakhkavank in the Gadrut District of Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of collapse. This was reported by residents of the Blutan community. According to the locals, the situation can be improved by development of road, establishment of transport connection and restoration of the school.