News

16 people perished and 17 others are still missing as a result of an explosion and subsequent fire that occurred at the "Surmalu" shopping centre (mall) in Yerevan, the Armenian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has informed.

Anar Aliev, an activist who came from Germany to visit his sick father, was arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of large-scale drug dealing; and his wife was banned from leaving the country. She said that Anar had confessed under pressure.

Elnur Shakhverdiev, a member of the Astara district branch of the oppositional Republican Alternative (ReAl) Party, has been arrested on charges of drug use. The activist's relatives and a party representative have doubted the credibility of charges, suggesting that Shakhverdiev was persecuted for criticizing authorities.

During the week from August 8 to August 14, 2022, there were no reports about any casualties or wounded persons during the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus. These are the results of the monitoring run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own sources and information from open sources.

The death toll from the explosion and fire at the "Surmalu" shopping centre in Yerevan has risen to 10.

Until August 29, the Aishat Kadyrova’s fashion house “Firdaws” is to provide explanations to the Moscow Arbitration Court on a claim filed by the Joint-Stock Company (JSC) “Condé Nast” publishing house, which demanded to return a debt and pay a penalty.

In Yerevan, rescuers removed the body of the seventh victim from the ruins of the “Surmalu” shopping centre. The number of missing people has risen to 17.

Persecution of pacifists in the southern regions of Russia; explosion in a shopping centre in Yerevan; events in Georgia and South Ossetia on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the start of the “Five-Day War”; complaints about torture from convicts after an attack on prison warders in Kalmykia; completion of the construction of a road along the new route of the Lachin corridor, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of August 8-14, 2022, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

When explaining the refusal to institute a criminal case, the police said that a warder and prisoners of an Azerbaijani penal colony did not confirm the information that journalist Polad Aslanov was beaten by a cellmate.

A tourist who tried to find a deserted place to spend time with a woman in the mountains of Dagestan posted a video with an apology to residents of the republic. Guests of Dagestan should respect local customs, some users of the “VKontakte” media outlet point out. Their opponents considered unacceptable the behaviour of local residents who rudely scolded the couple.

The police and the FSB suspected a resident of Ingushetia of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces because of his comment on a social media outlet, posted four days before the start of the special military operation.

Aslan Naptugov, a resident of Cherkessk, and 10 other natives of the Karachay-Cherkessian Repuvlic (KChR) were accused of extremism because of their social activities, an advocate has suggested.

Despite the warnings pronounced by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities not to burn or damage their houses prior to abandoning them, a resident of the village of Akhavno has burned down his house, filmed the process and posted it in social networks.

After tourists have posted in social networks their photos with the remains of those buried in the Dargavs Necropolis, residents of North Ossetia have again demanded from authorities to close the "City of the Dead" for visiting.

The uncontrolled inflow of Russian citizens is a threat to Georgia's security and economy, since it is not known what goals they pursue when coming into the country, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have noted.

Chechen law enforcers are conducting raids in Dagestan and take away boys and girls who are treated as violators of Vainakh rules of decency, residents of Chechnya, who came to Dagestan on vacation, have complained.

According to the updated information, six people perished in the explosion, the Armenian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) has reported today. Other 16 people are missing; the number of victims has exceeded 60.

On August 10, 22 administrative cases arrived in the Voroshilov District Court under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces in relation to Vitaly Gotra; in another case the article on which the protocol was drawn up was not indicated, as follows from the information on the court's website. The date of the session has not yet been set.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan has declared illegal the extension of the arrest of Eduard Ataev, the former coordinator of Navalny's office* in Makhachkala, but he was left in custody. The court has received a criminal case against the activist; and the article on drug dealing was added to the charge of possessing explosives.

Magomed Daudov, the Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, who is actively involved in training volunteers to be sent to Ukraine, has become the only representative of the regions of Southern Russia in the presidium of the presidential council for the development of local self-government.