News

During the week from April 14 to 20, 2025, one person perished in the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

In Tbilisi, a protest action has turned into protesters’ clashes with law enforcers; policemen detaining at least one person.

In Moscow, a court has considered a case on division of property and obliged Vladislav Bakalchuk to pay compensation to his former wife Tatiana Kim. Despite support from Chechnya, Vladislav Bakalchuk received only 1/7 of the total couple’s property, and his share in the “Wildberries” Company went to Tatiana Kim.

Three of the defendants in the case on the shootout between Chechen farmers in the Chernozubov farm yard have already left for the special military operation (SMO), and Anastasia Potorochina, a former psychiatrist of the Rostov tuberculosis hospital of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) wrote a letter asking for permission to conclude a military contract.

Activists have sent 1011 appeals to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) with the demand to take control over the investigation into the Seda Suleimanova’s case. Signatures are being collected in Russian cities under an appeal to the country’s presidential administration in connection with the Seda Suleimanova’s disappearance in Chechnya.

The organizers of sending online appeals to the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) with a call to take control of the inquiry into the disappearance of Seda Suleimanova, a Chechen native, have hope for some progress in the case, since they have positive experience of such campaigns.

A month after the death of Valery Bailo, a Jehovah's Witness*, at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), his body is in the morgue; its examination is not over; and the advocates and relatives have received not a single official response. Problems in investigating deaths in custody have become systemic, human rights defenders have indicated.

For his significant contribution to sports development, Akhmat Kadyrov was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Grozny".

When commenting on a document banning namaz (prayer) in the Andropovsky District of the Stavropol Territory that had already been cancelled by the district’s authorities, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called the ban an “open discrimination and legal lawlessness.” The leader of Chechnya has suggested that the authorities of other regions should build more mosques if they do not want namaz in the street.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, acts as an informal mediator in relations with Islamic states, but has little freedom of manoeuvre in building personal relations with Middle-Eastern leaders.

Vitaly Zhuravlyov, a resident of Akhtubinsk, has been charged with two episodes of repeated discrediting of the Russian Armed Forces for his comments posted on a social network.

The Ingush Imams, Mukhammad Tamaskhanov and Magomed Sultygov, were released after detention under recognizance not to leave the place. Both of them are popular among the followers of Salafi Islam.

Anna Safronova, a Jehovah’s Witness* from Astrakhan, who complained about cruel treatment in a penal colony in Stavropol, has been released from a punishment cell. The administration of the penal colonies often uses placement to punishment cell specifically in relation to prisoners who are believers.

Human rights defenders have recognized Vitaly Zhuravlyov, a resident of the Astrakhan Region, convicted under the article on repeated discrediting the Russian Army, as a political prisoner and demanded that his criminal prosecution be stopped and he be released.

Law enforcers used brute force to detain Imam Magomed Tamaskhanov and used pressure to get a confession from him concerning his alleged ties to a terrorist grouping, religious leaders claimed. They demanded from the Ingush authorities to intervene in the situation.

Schoolboys from the Astrakhan Region have pleaded guilty to committing a sabotage act. In order to prosecute them under this article, investigators must prove that the aim thereof was to undermine the country’s economic security, a lawyer has emphasized.

Human rights defenders recognized Olga Petrova, a resident of Makhachkala, as a political prisoner. The woman was convicted in a case on financing terrorism despite arguments stating that she was not guilty.

The Georgian Parliament adopted amendments to the Law “On Grants” in the final third reading, according to which grants can only be received with the permission of the country’s government. Not a single MP has voted against the amendments.

Tofig Yagublu, an Azeri oppositional politician, was unable to walk on his own on the 16th day of his hunger strike hr holds at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and was taken to a meeting with his advocate in an electric car. During his hunger strike, Tofig has lost 10 kg of his body weight.

Lekso Samkharadze, an activist, and Levan Kanchaveli, his comrade, have been attacked in Tbilisi. Both were hospitalized with serious traumas.