News

During the week of July 12-18, 2021, no killed or wounded in the ongoing armed conflict in Northern Caucasus were reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the “Caucasian Knot” based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Tightening of anti-COVID measures in Southern Russia; military incidents on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the Karabakh conflict zone; approval of the parliamentary election results in Armenia, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of July 12-18, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Human rights defenders have found out that the software of the Israeli NSO Group Company was used by intelligence services of a number of countries to spy on journalists, lawyers and politicians. The list of those who were shadowed included Azerbaijani journalists Khadija Ismayilova and Sevindj Vagifgyzy.

In Saint Petersburg, the eldest son of Nina Tseretilova, a resident of Dagestan, has disappeared; she suspects that her ex-husband, whom the court had earlier restricted in his parental rights, was involved in the son's disappearance.

After the war, families with children from Nagorno-Karabakh had to wander among relatives, refugees have complained.

Contrary to recommendation not to visit mosques because of the pandemic, some believers in Makhachkala are planning to perform collective namazes (prayers) during the holiday of Eid al-Adha, but decided to give up visiting relatives and making mass sacrifices.

The examining of motor drivers in Chechnya for the presence of vaccination certificates is quite in line with the behaviour of local authorities, the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. In their opinion, this may have to do with an attempt to please the Kremlin.

From their positions located in the Vardenis, Berd and Vedi Districts, Armenian soldiers have shelled the positions of Azerbaijani militaries deployed in the Kelbadjar, Tovuz and Sadarak Districts, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

A Tbilisi court has ruled to arrest two persons accused of attacking Lekso Lashkarava, a cameraman of the "TV-Pirveli" Company, and a passer-by with a rainbow flag. Journalists have demanded from the Georgian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to punish the organizers of the rally against the "March of Dignity", who were released after interrogation.

A colleague of a 20-year-old conscript fired at him as a result of careless firearm handling, the soldier died from the received wound.

Armenavan, a suburb of Stepanakert, located a few kilometres from Shushi, is systematically shelled, local residents have complained. Karabakh human rights defenders demand peacemakers' reaction.

Policemen have publicly chastised two teenagers in Khasavyurt for stealing bicycles and initiated a theft case against them. Some Instagram users have criticized law enforcers for posting videos showing interrogation of children.

An application to the police has been prepared against the Azerbaijani director Tural Safarov, who runs his blog under the pseudonym "Pantural", demanding to punish him for his statement about women who dress openly. Safarov has apologized, but it hasn't convinced the authors of the petition.

The documentary "Unclenching The Fists", filmed in North Ossetia by Kira Kovalenko, a director from Kabardino-Balkaria, has won the Grand Prix of the "Un Certain Regard" author's film contest at the Cannes Film Festival.

Zaurbek Dzaurov, a resident of Ingushetia, convicted within the case of mass protests in Magas, has been released from SIZO (pre-trial prison).

In the Agdam District, which has come under the Azerbaijan's control after the last autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a new military unit has been stationed; two other units were deployed in this district in June. In total, at least 25 units of the Azerbaijani Army have been formed in the territories around Karabakh.

Charges of group violence have been brought against two attackers on the cameraman, Lekso Lashkarava, and a member of the LGBT community, as well as against 22 other detainees. 41 people have been recognized as victims, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia has informed.

Islam Barzukaev, a native of Derbent, needs two surgeries, but did not receive medical treatment because of his transfer to a Rostov SIZO (pre-trial prison), while Gasan Kurbanov received medical assistance only partially due to a shortage of doctors, relatives of the defendants reported.

Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov, who has been on a hunger strike in penal colony for the fifth day, refused the offer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help with the transfer to another penitentiary institution. The pressure on Polad Aslanov is being ordered by the authorities, so the change of the penal colony will not change anything, a prisoner’s wife explains.

Investigators reported on the institution of a second criminal case against a resident of the Derbent District, suspected of involvement in an illegal armed formation (IAF).