News

The video appeal made by relatives of the blogger, Mamikhan Umarov, killed in Vienna, cannot be equated to a confession, but should trigger a check of their involvement in the crime. Such a check should be conducted by Chechen law enforcers, the advocates interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Counterterrorist operations (CTOs) against alleged militants end with the killing of all suspects; but no convincing proofs of casualties' guilt is provided to the public, Instagram users have noted in their comments to the law enforcers' operative video from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

On July 22, Vladimir Putin awarded Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, the military rank of Major General. This was announced by the leader of the region himself.

Today, Arthur Muradyan, a regular soldier, who was severely wounded on July 14 during the confrontation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has died in a military hospital, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Armenia reports.

Law enforcers detained participants of solo pickets held in front of the building of the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia, which scheduled for today a consideration of a cassation appeal against the verdicts to Rostov-on-Don residents Vladislav Mordasov and Yan Sidorov.

In Austria, a court has extended until August 20 the term of arrest for one of the suspects in a case on the murder of Chechen blogger Mamikhan Umarov, and the second suspect will be kept in prison until January 2021, an official from the Prosecutor's Office reports. Investigators will take into account a video appeal of the blogger's relatives who took the blame for his murder, the police say.

No tourists come to Abkhazia because of the closed border with Russia. According to local residents working in the tourism sector, they found themselves on the brink of survival.

During the last 24 hours, positions of Azerbaijani militaries were shelled for 47 times. The Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported six attacks and a subsequent relative calmness at the border.

Several dozen people have held protests in Tbilisi and Batumi, demanding an efficient investigation into the recent murders of a football player and a young woman. Three participants of the rally in Tbilisi were detained for disobeying the police, but were soon released.

At an emergency parliament session, Magomed Daudov, the Chairman of the Chechen Parliament, has called on the US State Department to put the entire population of Chechnya together with Ramzan Kadyrov into the sanctions list, while Salakh Mezhiev, the republic's Mufti, declared the US State Department "terrorist organization No. 1." Social network users and residents of Chechnya have ridiculed the Mufti's statement and accused the republic's authorities of trying to hide behind the population.

A policeman and seven Azerbaijanis received traumas during a conflict with Armenian citizens at an action in Los Angeles, the Azerbaijani Consulate General has reported.

The memory action held on the 10th anniversary of the murder of Natalia Estemirova in Moscow was peaceful, but law enforcers detained its participants, while the court considered the case in the absence of the state prosecutor, says the complaint sent by Alexander Cherkasov and Svetlana Gannushkina, the chairman and a board member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", respectively, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The authorities of Chechnya, which is a subsidized Russian region, has allocated 10.2 million roubles for orders and medals named after Akhmat Kadyrov. The awards should be made of gold and decorated with precious stones, as it follows from the public procurement website.

After the protest action in Baku, Mekhti Ibragim, a son of Mamed Ibragim, a member of the Presidium of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was arrested for three months on charges of spreading the coronavirus infection. The oppositionist treats the accusation as far-fetched and links the persecution of his son with his father's political activities.

Today, in the Chegem District, four members of a terrorist organization have been killed during the detention. The suspects were plotting a terror act, the FSB reported.

Men from among relatives of blogger Mamikhan Umarov, a critic of the Chechen authorities, who was killed in Vienna, recorded a video appeal. In the video, the men apologized for the statements the blogger had voiced. Furthermore, the relatives declared themselves guilty of his murder. Users of social networks believe the apology had been made under pressure.

After a brother of Minkail Malizaev, living in Europe, had called on the blogger and other critics of the Chechen authorities to repent, Instagram users noted that appealing to a relative in public was an inappropriate gesture. They suggested that the brother appealed to Minkail Malizaev under pressure.

Investigators have begun to bring charges under an article on terrorism against the persons detained in a case on an assassination attempt on Ibragim Eldjarkiev, the chief of the Ingush Centre for Combating Extremism (CCE, also known as Centre "E"), a source from the law enforcement bodies reports.

After a new group of residents of a tent camp near the Kullar village had been sent home, the rest claimed that the principles for the formation of groups of Azerbaijani citizens for sending them from Dagestan to the homeland were not transparent. Besides, the people noted that officials from the Azerbaijani authorities did not visit the tent camp till the eve of the departure.

During the last 24 hours, positions of the Azerbaijani militaries were shelled for 38, including those stationed in villages on the border with Armenia, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported today. In its turn, the Armenian MoD has claimed seven Azerbaijan's attacks during the same period.