News

In the last days of 2013, residents of some settlements of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) found leaflets in their mailboxes calling not to celebrate the New Year. According to the Republic's MIA, in the period from December 31, 2013, to January 1, 2014, the KBR held 19 mass New Year events with the participation of 11,980 people.

In Yerevan, Vage Mkrtchyan, the third arrested participant of the "Million Mask March" has joined the hunger strike earlier announced by Shant Harutyunyan and Liparit Petrosyan, as Ruzanna Badalyan, Harutyunyan's wife, told reporters.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has sent to court a criminal case against Zhantemir Temirkanov, a resident of the city of Nartkala, suspected of involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs).

The international organization "Reporters without Borders" (RWB) has issued a release, which expresses its serious concern about the criminal prosecution of journalists Sergey Reznik and Alexander Tolmachov from Rostov-on-Don, who criticized the authorities.

Muslims of the Volgograd Region report that there was no aggression against them after the terror acts committed in Volgograd. The Union of Muslims of the Volgograd Region has called young Islamists to take part in patrolling the streets with the aim to maintain the public order, said Abdulla Khadji, the chairman of the Union.

Special agents have established that the package, found in the territory of the Shopping Centre "MoryeMall" (Sea Mall) in Sochi, which caused an emergency evacuation of the visitors and employees of the Mall, contained no explosives.

As reported by the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) of the Russian Federation, four hospitalized victims of the terror acts committed in Volgograd are in extremely critical condition; in total, 65 victims are still in hospitals of Moscow and Volgograd.

In Sochi, the mountain Olympic village was opened in the territory of the ski resort "Rosa Khutor". One of the key objects of the 2014 Winter Games is ready to receive 2600 athletes and sports officials.

Three residents of the Malokarachay District of Karachay-Cherkessia are suspected of abducting a minor girl, the press service of the Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Sochi planning to hold total inspection of readiness of Olympic facilities and infrastructure, said his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, adding that special attention will be given to problem objects.

All the major Russian missions abroad have opened special "Olympic visa windows", where visas for foreign guests of the Winter Olympics in Sochi can be draw up on the day of address, said Vladimir Titov, a Deputy Foreign Minister.

Anastasia Dulevskaya, a native of Samara, detained on January 2, has been released, said an activist of the DRPO "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy). Currently Dulevskaya is at home.

The Oktiabrskiy District Court of Stavropol has started the preliminary hearing of the criminal case initiated against Magomed-Bashir Archakov, born in 1993, a 4-year student of the Institute for Construction, Transports and Engineering, accused of incitement of interethnic hatred and enmity.

As reported by a source from law enforcement bodies, the person killed on January 2 in the city of Khasavyurt was identified as Marat Shikhshaidov; Aisha Idigova, who was also killed in the same operation, was his civil law wife.

As reported by the regional government, the number of hospitalized victims of the terror act has increased to 46, while the count of grave patients has dropped to three.

More than 700 people were detained for various offenses during the operation "Vikhr Anti-Terror", conducted in Volgograd after the terror acts, said the MIA of the Volgograd Region.

Two persons blocked in a flat of apartment block in Khasavyurt were killed, said the law enforcement spokesman of Dagestan.

The five young activists arrested for taking part in the December 29 unsanctioned protest in Baku have stopped their hunger strike at the insistence of their parents, said Tural Abbasly, a board member of the "Musavat" Party. According to his story, the health condition of the arrested Orkhan Eyubzade became worse.

The celebrations of the New Year in Chechnya pass without any major incidents, said the local MIA. However, in the context of recent explosions in the Southern Federal District (SFD), policemen and rescuers are in the high alert regime.

Sochi streets were practically empty on December 31, 2013, and January 1, 2014, seeing only police patrol units cruising through the city, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. Sochi residents explain their reluctance to leave home by fear of terror acts.