News

After militants have committed their attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent, the number of tour bookings to Dagestan has decreased, the Russian Union of Tourist Industry (RUTI) has informed. In their turn, tourist operators suggest that tour sales will gradually normalize.

A court in the Volgograd Region has sentenced Igor Nagavkin to two years probation, finding him guilty of disorganizing the work of the SIZO (pre-trial prison). He intends to seek recognition of his innocence.

During the week from June 17 to June 23, 2024, 15 law enforcers and four civilians perished in the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. Six suspected militants were killed. Many received various wounds; the Dagestani Muftiate announced 25 victims. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

The Jews of Makhachkala have felt no obvious threats; the attack on the synagogue came as a complete surprise to them, said Valery Dibiyaev, the chairman of the Centralized Religious Organization of Jewish Communities of Dagestan.

Over the past six months, law enforcers arrested Dmitry Polunin, a resident of the city of Anapa, for ten times for criticizing the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, hooliganism and disobedience to the police; then, they opened a case against him for cooperation with a foreign organization.

In Dagestan, a policeman who participated in repelling a militants’ attack died in a hospital. So, the total number of perished law enforcers and civilians has reached 21.

The Moscow City Court refused to grant the complaint against an arrest in absentia filed by Zalina Marshenkulova, a journalist from Kabardino-Balkaria, accused of justifying terrorism.

Alexei Scherbich, a Jehovah’s Witness* from the city of Neftekumsk, has been recognized as a political prisoner, since the charges brought against him are discriminatory and violate a number of his rights, the “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” human rights project reports.

Ruslan Totrov, a political journalist from Ossetia, lodged a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee regarding two court’s decisions pronounced against him in Russia.

Three months after the initiation of the case on Seda Suleimanova's murder, investigators have failed to make any conclusions; the process is deliberately being sabotaged, the petition created by Lena Patyaeva, a Seda's friend, has stated.

The European Union (EU) has included Aimani Kadyrova, the mother of the head of Chechnya, and the Kadyrov Fund into the sanctions list. Ramzan Kadyrov said that the sanctions only confirm his mother's merits.

The militants' attacks in Dagestan were law enforcers' failure, who could not pay due attention to preventive work, veterans of special services have pointed out, adding that attackers' actions were similar to the tactics of militants of the "Islamic State" (IS)*.

During the militants’ attack, 20 people were killed and 46 others were injured, the Dagestani Ministry for Public Health reported.

Shooting during a militant attack in Makhachkala frightened people, and it became difficult to move around the city because of the cordons arranged by law enforcers, local residents said.

Shooting in Dagestan, drones in the Caucasus, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, verdict against seven Ingush activists, and official data on the natives of Southern Russia who perished in Ukraine, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of June 17-June 23, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Kevin Lik, a resident Maykop, convicted for treason, will not be sent to a German prison as a German citizen, since only his Russian citizenship matters for Russian law enforcers, lawyers have explained.

Ayats (verses) of the Koran, references to which were left by attackers at a synagogue in Derbent, are interpreted by the extremists to justify their confrontation with Jews and Christians, Leonid Syukiyainen and Dmitry Mikulsky point out. The experts suggest that the date of the attack on the Orthodox temple was chosen by the militants because of the Christian holiday celebrated on that day.

The Elista City Court has convicted three female Jehovah's Witnesses*: Kishta Tutinova has been sentenced to three years, Tsagan Khalgaeva and Ekaterina Menkova – to two years of conditional imprisonment each.

The attacks committed by militants on churches and synagogues have interrupted a 13-month-long calm period in Dagestan. Earlier, the republic faced a number of attacks on religious figures and worship places.

After the start of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, Russian law enforcers are more actively initiating criminal cases of treason; and appellate courts are upholding the verdicts, lawyers have commented on the verdict passed to Vladislav Poruchikov, a student from Taganrog.