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The US Congress has passed an amendment demanding an immediate release of all Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians kept by Azerbaijan, as well as conducting an inquiry into the use of American technologies in Turkish drones that were used during the 2020 escalation of the Karabakh conflict.

Magdi, a brother of Khadjimurad Kamalov, the founder of the Dagestani "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly, who was killed in March 2018, had earlier declared the innocence of the defendants, and now has confirmed his position at the court session. He has stated that there was no conflict of his brother with Shamil Isaev, a former republic's Vice-Premier, who was treated as the customer of the murder.

Residents of the Tagavard-Kaler village in Nagorno-Karabakh have demanded to set up posts of Russian peacemakers in the village and arm the men in order to ensure villagers' safety.

The Baku Court of Grave Crimes has rejected all the defence's motions put forward in favour of Niyameddin Akhmedov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). The state prosecutor has asked the court to sentence him to 15 years in prison.

While commenting on the Freedom House’s Internet freedom rating, experts in the field of media have claimed that Azerbaijan restricts access to a number of websites, and social media users are persecuted for criticizing the authorities,.

Tractor driver Mamed Mardanov was killed while ploughing a land plot in the Azerbaijani border village of Bala Djafarli in the Gazakh District.

The investigation into a case against Akhmed Pogorov, the co-chair of the World Congress of the Ingush People, has been unjustifiably prolonged, and the arguments presented by investigators in favour of the activist’s arrest are not grounded, advocate Magomed Gagiev claims. The court extended the arrest of Akhmed Pogorov for three months.

The Rostov-on-Don Military Court has sentenced Shamil Abdulmedjidov, a resident of Dagestan, to 12 years in a high security colony, having found him guilty of taking the oath to the "Islamic State" (IS)*. Abdulmedjidov refused to plead guilty.

The jury of the "Kinotavr" Film Festival recognized the film about election fraud "Almost Spring" directed by Nastya Korkiya as the winner in the nomination "For Purity and Accuracy". The story of a teacher who threw ballots into the ballot box is accurately describing the psychology of school teachers, whose work is equated to duties of civil servants, said Victor Matizen, a film critic.

In the overwhelming majority of regions of the Southern Federal District (SFD) of Russia, candidates from the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party have won the elections to the State Duma in single-mandate constituencies, with the exception of Adygea, where the self-nominated candidate Vladislav Reznik has won.

The concert tour of the Leningrad Regional Symphony Orchestra with a repertoire based on Adyg (Circassian) folklore was launched by a concert in Krasnodar. Instsgram users report that they are looking forward to concerts in Maykop, Nalchik and Cherkessk.

Alizamin Salaev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), who is serving his prison term for insulting a policeman, has told his son about his transfer from the colony, where he was placed into a dungeon for refusing to apply about leaving the PFPA, to the SIZO (pre-trial prison). According to Alizamin Salaev, while in the dungeon (punishment cell), he went on a hunger strike because of torture.

Ramzan Kadyrov has invited the US President, Joe Biden, who called for defending LGBT people's rights in Chechnya, to come to the republic and make sure that there are no sexual minorities and no problems with them in Chechnya.

The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) has launched a check after banners with “bloody” images of opposition leaders appeared in Tbilisi. The “Georgian Dream” Party may be involved in unsanctioned advertising, oppositionists say. The Georgian authorities and the Tbilisi City Mayoralty claim they are not involved in the case.

The decision to unite the Gegamasar community with Vardenis is politically motivated, local residents say. The ruling force is striving to concentrate power in one hand in order to more easily control the electoral process, political strategist Armen Badalyan suggests.

During reconstruction works in the village of Garvand in the Agdam District, a tractor driver ran over an anti-tank mine and was injured in an explosion.

The film by the film director Lamara Sogomonyan "Get ready, let's go to holiday" about the practice of female circumcision stands out among other films and indicates the problem topicality. But the film does not reflect the way to solve it, film critics at the "Kinotavr" Film Festival assert.

In Yerevan, law enforcers have detained two activists who opposed the visit of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, to the Erablur Military Pantheon on the Armenia's Independence Day. Authorities did not allow journalists to attend the ceremony in fear of provocations.

On September 20, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) celebrated the Adyg Day: exhibitions, concerts and sports competitions were dedicated thereto. However, the most crowded vents – the march and the dance circle – have been cancelled this year due to coronavirus.

The 99% that Ramzan Kadyrov scored at the election of the head of Chechnya is a typical outcome for tough authoritarian leaders, Ekaterina Sokirianskaya believes. By reporting on such election totals, authorities, show citizens that the latter decide nothing, Ruslan Kutaev has noted.