News

According to one of local residents, an owner of the shop selling alcohol was assassinated in a suburb of Makhachkala; however, the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs did not confirm this information.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has noted, when speaking at the sitting of the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC), held in Vladikavkaz, said that fight against extremists on the Internet, including religious ones, should be waged by creating special resources.

Today, before the court session on the case of Issa Khashagulgov, a resident of Ingushetia accused of possessing weapons, at the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow, journalists of the "Caucasian Knot" Lydia Mikhalchenko and Ekaterina Seleznyova, as well as defendants' relatives, were not let into the courtroom without presenting any legal grounds.

In Georgia, the IDPs (internally displaced persons), who had been picketing the Ministry for Refugees' Matters and Accommodation for five months, have moved into the temporary residence provided to them by the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Today, activists of the youth movement "Ara" (No) and the NGO named "Homeland, Language, Faith" held a sit-down rally in front of the US Embassy in Tbilisi, urging diplomats to help in releasing those convicted on political grounds.

The consideration of the case of the women-citizens of Georgia detained in Malaysia for drug trafficking is scheduled for March 4. This was reported today by Nino Kalandadze, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia. According to her story, Eldar Davitiani, the husband of one of the detainees, has been already sentenced in Georgia to 15 years of imprisonment.

Tragic incidents in Kabardino-Balkaria will continue. This was stated today at the Independent Press Centre in Moscow in the course of a press conference held by the Ingush oppositionist Magomed Khazbiev, Chechen human rights defender Kheda Saratova and political scientist Geidar Dzhemal on the topic "Tension in Ingushetia as Result of Authorities' Blunders".

The aim of the unidentified criminals, who on February 18 murdered a group of tourists from Moscow in Kabardino-Balkaria, could be the daughter of former FSB head Nikolai Patrushev. The Russian Security Council has already stated that one of the casualties - Irina Patrusheva - was a namesake of the former FSB boss.

On Sunday, February 20, several soldiers were assassinated in a military unit of the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan. According to unofficial information, one of the soldiers shot six of his comrades and then shot himself.

According to the latest data, after the attack on the house of two women in the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, a 5-year-old girl was hospitalized with a wound in the chest. Now, she is in grave condition.

At the Moscow City Court, where the consideration of the murder case of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova has started today, the defendants Nikita Tikhonov and Evgenia Khasis refused to plead guilty.

Currently, two other Georgian citizens are kept in South Ossetia; while residents of the latter are also kept in custody in Georgia. The Georgian party will continue talks on exchange.

The citizens of South Ossetia, who were released today by the Georgian party side, were kept ignorant about their liberation from Georgia prisons until they were brought to the border with South Ossetia. They told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent and claimed that they had not committed the crimes, for which they were convicted in the territory of Georgia.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a well-informed source that tonight unidentified persons have killed Ramazan Friev, head of the village administration of Khasanya.

In the honour of the Day of Homeland's Defender, residents of Pyatigorsk and several other cities of the Stavropol Territory made an extreme climb on Mount Beshtau.

In the context of the current strained situation in Kabardino-Balkaria, it was decided to close all the ski courses on slopes of Mount Elbrus: Alpine skiing is stopped; and all tourist groups are prohibited to go en route.

On February 19, in the city of Ipatovo, Stavropol Territory, a rally demanded fair elections of the head of their municipality formation.

In the capital of Dagestan, near the house of Ali Akhmedov, head of the city's UVD (Interior Department), a sniper opened fire on two militiamen. One of them was wounded, and the second managed to escape in an armoured shelter, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Mairbek Agaev from the Dagestani edition named "Chernovik".

Valery Kuznetsov, Prosecutor of the Rostov Region, has passed a warning to the organization named the "Don Cossack Republic", existing since 2008, but unregistered by regional justice, about inadmissibility of extremist activity - for their initiative of an uprising and creation of a new entity within the Russian Federation.

The ropeway "Azau-Stary Krugozor" on Mount Elbrus was undermined by unidentified culprits, as reported by a source from local law enforcement bodies. According to his story, nobody was hurt by the explosion.