News

In the territories transferred to Azerbaijan, more than half of the historical monuments are destroyed, the acting Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan reports. He has urged UNESCO to protect Islamic and Christian cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh. UNESCO should enhance its activities in the region, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) declares.

A man suspected of murder has triggered a grenade while being detained in Dagestan, law enforcement sources have informed.

The health condition of the Azerbaijani journalist, Afghan Sadygov, who went on a hunger strike at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), has worsened, but on the 20th day of his protest he also refused to drink water, his wife has informed.

In Chechnya, awards have a special meaning and support Kadyrov's cult; the awarding demonstrates how loyal an official is to the leadership, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The specificities of the post-war situation and the Karabakh terrain reliefs complicate the search for the bodies of those perished in the conflict zone; in most cases, the remains can be identified only by DNA assays, said Zara Amatuni, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Yerevan, and Artak Beglaryan, the Nagorno-Karabakh's Ombudsperson.

In his talk with Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament, Ramzan Kadyrov threatened to confiscate and burn down the cars of those who have shown disrespect for policemen, and send them to compulsory work. Kadyrov makes such statements out of the feeling of impunity, but some of his subordinates perceive them as a guide to action, analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Russian peacemakers have accompanied to Stepanakert a convoy of 32 buses with refugees who decided to return from Armenia after the end of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The absence of Azerbaijani data on war losses and on exchange of casualties' bodies may have to do with data updating and with the fact that the official Baku waits for the transfer of all the areas designated in the joint statement under its control, Azerbaijan analysts have suggested.

The official COVID-19 death statistics fails to explain the dramatic increase in mortality in Russia, says the "Mediazona" study released on November 23. The authors have put Chechnya and North Ossetia in the top ten Russian regions notable for the least transparent statistics of coronavirus deaths.

Near the village of Madagiz, an Azerbaijani soldier was killed in a mine explosion, while a Russian peacekeeper and four employees of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of Nagorno-Karabakh were injured.

In 2010, the chief of the Kizlyar ROVD (District Interior Division) in Dagestan helped a female suicide bomber get to Moscow and commit an explosion in the metro, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) reports.

Politician Gegam Manukyan and his fellow party member Garik Avetisyan have begun an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Armenian government building. The oppositionists call the "sole" signing of the ceasefire agreement as the reason for demanding the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan.

According to a number of social networks users, the stories of three women from Dagestan, who had to sever the ties with their relatives and friends and leave the Muslim community, speak of the process of the society's archaization. The film "The Women who Took Their Hijabs Off" mix up local customs and family problems with Islam, critics argue.

In Batumi, about 20 residents of the village of Keda spent the night in front of the government building during an indefinite protest against the results of the parliamentary elections.

Russian singers Timati, GeeGun, and Egor Kreed have promised to present a Rolls-Royce car to one of those users who will follow some Instagram accounts, including accounts of five members of the Ramzan Kadyrov's family.

Return of refugees from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh and transfer of territories to Azerbaijan; coronavirus infection spread statistics in Caucasus; second round of parliamentary elections in Georgia, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of November 16-22, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

The experts of the anti-mine centre and special equipment delivered to the Yerevan Airport will be sent to Stepanakert for the demining work, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

Residents of Kutaisi and Lentekhi and oppositional politicians have joined Namakhvani villagers, who keep protesting for almost a month against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) on the Rioni River.

During the week from November 16 to November 22, 2020, no information was received about any casualties and wounded people during the 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.

The activists of the NGO "Alternative", detained during a rally near the regional election commission (REC) in Batumi, refuse to plead guilty. After being released from the police, they have joined the endless protest action near the building of the Adjara Government.