News

The mountain village of Akhshtyr, Adler District of Sochi, has been deprived for five years of reliable water supply and is cut off from public transport and other infrastructure because of the Olympic construction, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.

The police have detained about 30 members of the "People's Assembly" in Volgograd, organized in the context of recent terror acts. According to eyewitnesses, the rally was attended by about 200 people, but the police began to disperse and detain them.

Terror act organizers are successful in the Volgograd Region because of the weakness of local power agents, who are unable to prevent suicide attacks, said Andrei Serenko, the coordinator of the "Club of Experts of Volgograd". In order to prevent terror acts, it is necessary to consolidate the society, said political scientist Ruslan Kurbanov.

The death toll of the two terror acts committed in Volgograd on December 29 and 30 includes 33 people, including the suicide bombers. The Volgograd Regional Administration has spread the list of those wounded which contains the names of 64 people.

In the Krasnodar Territory, the defence of ecologist Evgeny Vitishko, who was sentenced to penal settlement for damage to the fence of the so-called "summer cottage of the Governor" of the Krasnodar Territory, has challenged the court's decision. This was reported by Alexander Popkov, advocate of the sentenced ecologist.

According to the recent information, 41 persons suffered in the explosion in the trolley-bus in Volgograd. Of them, 27 persons were hospitalized. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Health. According to the preliminary information, the explosion killed a 5-year-old child.

Suspected militants, who were killed on Monday during a special operation in Kabardino-Balkaria, were involved in the murders of two staff members of the Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as UFSIN). This was reported by sources from the law enforcement bodies of the republic.

According to the preliminary information, an explosive device in a trolley-bus in Volgograd was activated by a male suicide bomber. This was reported by Vladimir Markin, Spokesman of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

On February 7, 2014, Sochi will host the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games. In the context of the ongoing conflict in Northern Caucasus, the "Caucasian Knot" is hereby publishing a chronicle of sabotage and terror acts committed in the pre-Olympic year in the North-Caucasian and Southern Federal Districts (NCFD and SFD).

Terror act at the railway station in Volgograd; publication of names of plenipotentiary envoys of the leader of Dagestan in four regional districts; abolition of direct election of regional leader in Karachay-Cherkessia; adoption in Kabardino-Balkaria in the first reading of the law to abolish the election of regional leader, and election of Arsen Kanokov as the senator from the region; ratification of gas agreements with Russia by Armenian Parliament and opposition protest; Russian figure skating championship in Sochi, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 23-29, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Death toll in the terror act in Volgograd has reached 18 persons. At night of December 30, Andrei Zadorin, who was in critical condition, died in hospital. This was reported by a source from the health care institutions of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

During the week from December 23 to December 29, 2013, the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus brought sufferings to at least 22 people; of them, 15 persons lost their lives, and seven more were wounded. These are the results of the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The case of Evgeny Vitishko has an obvious political context, the participants of the rallies in support of the Krasnodar ecologist held in various cities of Russia have stated. Alexander Cherkasov, the Chairman of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", believes that the decisions of this sort taken in localities are contrary to the efforts undertaken by the federal centre to improve the country's image.

One of the versions of the law enforcement bodies suggests that a suicide bombing at the railway station in Volgograd could be committed by a male suicide bomber. Earlier, Vladimir Markin, Spokesman of the ICRF, has reported that, according to the preliminary information, the terror act was committed by a female suicide bomber, a native of Dagestan.

According to the calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot", during the "pre-Olympic" year from February 12, 2013, till December 29, 2013, 32 explosions were committed in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and the Southern Federal District (SFD).

The explosion committed on Sunday at the railway station in Volgograd became the third explosion since the beginning of the year. Earlier, the terror act was committed in the city bus, and there were attempts to blow up police buildings.

In the Krasnodar Territory, Besik Kudukhov, a native of South Ossetia, two-time Olympic medalist and four-time world champion in freestyle wrestling, was killed in a road traffic accident.

New Year celebrations have nothing in common with Islamic traditions and have no historical past in Dagestan. This was stated by Akhmad Anchikhsky, a follower of the Salafi trend in Islam. Meanwhile, according to Sirazhudin-Khadji Akhmedov, a follower of the Dagestani Sufism, some actions of celebration can drive Muslims out of Islam.

Today at about 10:00 p.m., in a Baku hospital, Zaur Gasanov, an invalid and a Karabakh War veteran, who attempted self-immolation on December 25, has died.

Investigators are working with various versions of involvement of two main suspects in the explosion of a car in Pyatigorsk, said a source from local law enforcement bodies.