News

The jury of the Doc.Sydney Australian International Documentary Film Festival found the film “Goryanki” (Mountain Women) by Maryam Makhieva, a film director from Kabardino-Balkaria, as the best full-length film.

The directory of the "Rosstat" (Russian Federal State Statistics Service), prepared for the All-Russian Population Census, lists over ten nationalities containing the word "Cossack". The demands of the Cossacks living in Southern Russia to recognize them as a people are historically justified; however, they sound amid the erosion of Cossacks' national identity, scientists have pointed out.

Some Russian delegates voted against discussing the issue of returning Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) from Azerbaijan, the rest of them have abstained. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) must react to this decision, residents of Armenia have noted.

On April 19, the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party and opposition parties signed an agreement to hold parliamentary elections and release political prisoners. The deal gives oppositionists a chance to enter the parliament while maintaining their reputation, analysts believe.

After the village of Shurnukh in the Syunik Region of Armenia occurred on the border with Azerbaijan, posts of Azerbaijani militaries are deployed near residential buildings; and the villagers are afraid to be under fire in the event of a new aggravation, the "JAMnews" writes.

Azerbaijani authorities are deliberately protracting the release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), and wouldn't disclose the real number thereof, Arman Tatoyan, the Armenian Ombudsperson, has stated. The Armenian delegation managed to achieve the inclusion of the POWs' issue into the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) agenda, Armenian MPs have informed.

Employees of the Sotk mine have blocked roads, demanding a fixed salary and paying off the debts. In its turn, the "GeoProMining Gold" Company treats the complaints as unjustified and threatened to send the entire collective to unpaid leave.

In his appeal complaint, Murad Manapov, the deputy coordinator of Alexei Navalny's office in Dagestan, treats his detention and arrest as unlawful. The Makhachkala court failed to account for the activist's arguments, his advocate ha stated.

Ella Kesaeva, the co-chair of the “Voice of Beslan” public committee, and four other activists of the movement began a hunger strike in solidarity with oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

In Grozny, law enforcers oblige drivers to remove the tint film from their cars, but use similar tinting themselves, Instagram users point out.

The Ingush Council of Alims (Islam experts) has banned the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies by Muslims due to the lack of legislative guarantees for owners, explains Magomed Khashtyrov, the Deputy Mufti of Ingushetia.

North Ossetia has adopted the law, allowing children to be given surnames based on Ossetian cultural traditions. The law meets the needs of local residents and contributes to the preservation of their language and national identity, scientists note.

During the week of April 12-18, 2021, during the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, no information about casualties or wounded persons was reported. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

The European Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Russian LGBT Network have sent a complaint to a German court against Chechen law enforcers and officials in connection with the persecution of people with non-traditional sexual orientation in Chechnya, The Guardian has reported.

44 children have been brought from the Middle East to Russia; after examination they will be handed over to their relatives in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Stavropol Territory, the children's ombudsperson has informed.

Beginning of Ramadan; attacks with hostage-taking in Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz; opening of a war trophy park in Baku; transfer of Magomed Gadaev, deported from France, to Chechnya, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of April 12-18, 2021, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

More than 1150 families, whose houses fell into the flooded zone of the Irganai reservoir, failed to receive compensation for their houses; and more than 2000 families received no compensations for their lost gardens, the Dagestani authorities have stated, promising to solve these problems.

More than 400 out of approximately 3000 cultural monuments located in the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh that passed under Azerbaijan's control, have been destroyed; and many historical artefacts have been taken to Armenia, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has stated.

The son of the head of Chechnya has defeated his opponent in a boxing fight by technical knockout. Social network users find the victory strange and accompany the video thereof by ironic comments.

Twelve OSCE countries have demanded from Russia to fulfil the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which has found Russia involved in human rights violations committed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. However, despite its interest in fulfilling the ECtHR's decision on the 2008 war, Georgia, will refrain from imposing sanctions against Russia, Georgian political analysts believe.