News

Death of Alexei Navalny* and Caucasus, shooting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, reshuffles in government bodies and a shootout in Chechnya, 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 February 12-18, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

In Astrakhan, the police detained Maria Poplavskaya, who laid flowers at the monument to the victims of political repression. After a conversation at a police station, the young woman was released with a warning.

In Rostov-on-Don, a court found Valentina Mrykhina, who was detained while laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny*, guilty of failure to obey a lawful request of law enforcers and fined her 2000 roubles.

Contract soldier Vladimir Marchenko went twice absent from his military unit without leave, during one of which he acquired drugs. A court in Maikop sentenced Vladimir Marchenko to 7.5 years of imprisonment for the above offence. A court in Rostov-on-Don considered the appeal and upheld the verdict.

Local residents and activists continue bringing flowers to the memorial to Alexei Navalny* in Sochi, which was spontaneously formed near the monument to victims of political repressions. Law enforcers are questioning those who bring flowers and check their documents.

Relatives of the rioters at the Makhachkala Airport have asked Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for leniency. According to their version, the detainees fell victims to provocation and made a mistake.

Those detained at the monument to victims of political repressions in Stavropol while laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny* said that dozens of people were taken to police stations. Law enforcers demanded from detainees to provide access to their phones and sign warnings about the inadmissibility of taking part in mass rallies.

Stalina Erlenbach, an activist of the movement "Building Future Ourselves", has reported that during searching her home, law enforcers were looking for extremist materials; she has linked the search with her demand to nominate Svetlana Lada-Rus* as a candidate for Russia's presidency.

A court in Krasnodar has arrested for 14 days Andrei Vyazov, an activist, having treated his use of a banner from Navalny's* presidential campaign during the picket as a demonstration of symbols of a banned organization.

The 18-year-old son of the head of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, has been appointed the republic's Minister of Youth Affairs. He was also awarded Chechnya's highest award, Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, has announced.

A decision was made to transfer Zarema Musaeva from the colony in Argun to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Grozny so that she could take part via video link in a court hearing, at which an appeal against her verdict will be considered, human rights defenders have informed.

The armed incident in the village of Stary Achkhoi, where law enforcers shot three people dead who had allegedly attacked them, could have been staged both by Chechen authorities in order to send fewer fighters to Ukraine, and by Chechen law enforcers to improve performance indicators, and then they gave it a new perspective, analysts have suggested.

Sochi townspeople and guests of the resort city wanted to lay flowers at the monument to victims of political repressions and honour the memory of Alexei Navalny*, but law enforcers interfered and removed flowers.

In Krasnodar, supporters of Alexei Navalny* laid flowers in memory of him at the memorial to the victims of fascism.

An independent examination confirmed that more than one person participated in the murder of 19-year-old Magomed-Ali Sultanov, but two accomplices in the crime are involved in the criminal case only as witnesses. That was claimed by a lawyer representing the victims’ interests.

The custody conditions in the colony led to the death of Alexei Navalny*, some social network users in Southern Russia have noted; others doubt the natural reasons of his death. Commentators have expressed condolences to Alexei's family.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has refused to overturn the decision of French authorities to extradite a 55-year-old native of Chechnya to Russia. He himself insists that he faces torture in his homeland.

Tightening of the charges against Oleg Orlov* after a re-investigation into the case on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces has increased the chances of the prosecutor’s office to achieve imprisonment for the defendant, a lawyer and human rights defenders note.

Villagers from Stary Achkhoi have treated the three men shot dead by law enforcers as newcomers, a local resident has stated. The investigators' version about a shootout raises doubts, Chechen activists and Internet users have pointed out.

Shamil Sadulaev, accused of calling for terrorism, has died at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of Makhachkala; his body had numerous signs of injuries, his mother has stated. She believes that her son died a violent death.