News

Azerbaijan has shelled the Armenian positions and the road in the direction of the village of Elpin, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported. In its turn, its Azerbaijani counterpart has announced the shelling of its positions in the Kelbadjar District.

The prosecutor has asked to sentence Andrei Pivovarov, a former executive director of the "Open Russia"*, to five years in prison and to ban him from being elected to power bodies for eight years, his advocate has informed.

The Strasbourg Court has concluded that the investigating authorities violated the article on the right to life of the Convention on Human Rights by refusing to investigate the murder of writer and publicist Rafik Tagi, and awarded compensation of 12,000 euros to his widow.

The requirement to recruit only Chechen residents into new battalions may lead to the creation of monoethnic military units, and other republics of Northern Caucasus will want to follow this trend, experts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” state.

The creation of battalions, which will be part of the Russian Ministry of Defence, will create 1800 jobs in the republic, the leader of Chechnya reports.

The executive authorities of the Astara District of Azerbaijan did not sanction holding of a folklore festival, which was initiated by the municipal council of the Khamosham village, where ethnic Talysh live. The Public Council of the Talysh People of Azerbaijan treat the refusal as a discriminatory policy of the authorities towards the Talysh people.

A court placed under arrest five employees of a drug and alcohol addiction treatment centre located in the Absheron District of Azerbaijan after one of the patients died. According to the investigators’ version, the victim was kept by force at the centre and subjected to torture there.

The striking workers of the metallurgical mills located in Rustavi have denied the company bosses' proposal to make a step-by-step wage indexing by 15%; they intend to go on striking until wages were increased by a third at once.

The court has supported the activists who demanded to make a street section in Makhachkala convenient for wheelchair users.

On July 6, refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh began a sitting picket in front of the Armenian government building demanding an official status. They believe that Armenian authorities ignore their demand for political reasons.

While interrogating relatives of Isabella Evloeva, the editor-in-chief of the "Fortanga" oppositional Ingush outlet, law enforcers tried to find out the whereabouts of Isabella, who is accused within the case of spreading fakes about the Russian Army. Law enforcers intend to constantly question her relatives, while she was engaged in journalism, Ms Evloeva herself has stated.

Veterans of the Karabakh war have filed a lawsuit for libel and insult against Abid Gafarov, an Azerbaijani activist, who posted videos about them on the Internet. Gafarov treats the accusations as unjustified and links the case with his social activities.

The analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have drawn attention to the growth of ethnic aggression in Russia, and criticized authorities for hushing up problems in interethnic relations.

Authorities fail to make due efforts to investigate crimes against sexual minorities and are unable to prevent attacks on them in public places, Baku residents and activists have stated.

Today, Tamara Grodnikova has filed a complaint to the court of cassation against the first instance court’s decision to fine her 30,000 roubles for discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. In her complaint, the activist pointed out that the posters she was holding in her hand during a picket mentioned only the blocking of the media and did not express any opinion about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.

An aircraft with 50 tons of humanitarian cargo for Ukraine left Baku for Warsaw. Humanitarian aid provided by the executive authorities of the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait is intended for residents of the Ukrainian city of Cherkassy.

A five-storey building, in which finishing work is being carried out, will become the location of new Chechen battalions, and the buildings on the territory of the military camp require major repairs, the “Grozny” ChGTRK (State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company) reports. Meanwhile, the “Grozny Inform” news agency has reported about the start of recruitment into the “Sever-Akhmat” and “Yug-Akhmat” battalions, arguing that all conditions had already been created for the militaries.

Today, several dozen parents of militaries who perished in the autumn war of 2020 have gathered in front of the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia. The protestors have requested the National Security Service of Armenia to interrogate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a criminal case, the charge in which, according to the protestors, should be changed to high treason.

The self-withdrawal of the third judge in the case of Zarema Musaeva indicates the unwillingness of the judiciary in Chechnya to be involved in considering the case of Musaeva, whose husband, Saidi Yangulbaev, is their former colleague, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Those responsible for organizing riots in Tbilisi on July 5, 2021, have not yet been punished, despite numerous victims from the aggression of LGBT opponents, activists have stated at a protest held in the capital of Georgia.