News

On December 19, on the fortieth day after the end of the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a three-day mourning for the deceased will begin in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announces.

A landmine explosion occurred in the Agdam District of Azerbaijan. As a result, a civilian was killed, and two more persons, including a military man, were injured.

The checkpoints in the Lachin Corridor are equipped with protection against gunfire and shrapnel, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed. The situation in the Gadrut District after the recent clash is calm, said Rustam Muradov, the commander of the peacemaking contingent.

Armenian authorities should be more proactive in seeking the restart of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh within the OSCE Minsk Group, protesters in Yerevan have claimed. Azerbaijan insists that the conflict has already been settled by military means.

Return of refugees, violation of the truce and statement by human rights defenders about war crimes in the Karabakh conflict zone; explosion committed by a suicide bomber in Karachay-Cherkessia; military parade in Baku; opposition boycott on the first day of the Georgian parliament's work, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 7-13, 2020, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

During the week of December 7-13, 2020, during the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, seven persons suffered: one was killed and six were wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

Some schools in Nagorno-Karabakh have resumed the educational process; 11,580 pupils have returned to their desks. The rest of the schools will start working since early 2021, after the damages caused by the hostilities have been eliminated, the Ministry of Education has announced.

After the ceasefire violation in the Gadrut District, similar incidents are not ruled out in other territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, including in the Lachin Corridor controlled by Russian peacemakers, Armenian analysts have suggested, noting that Russia should react harder in such cases.

The protesters who tried to enter the building of the Adjara Government were detained after a clash with law enforcers, during which one policeman suffered.

In central Tskhinvali, a protest action demanding to punish those responsible for Inal Djabiev's death continues for the ninth day already. A draft amendment to the Constitution of South Ossetia in terms of the appointment and resignation of the Public Prosecutor General has been prepared, said David Sanakoev, an MP and protesters' supporter.

The hostilities in the area of two villages in the Gadrut District have been stopped; and Russian peacemakers have arrived there. Azerbaijani militaries have managed to establish control over the village of Khin Takher, the head of the neighbouring Armenian village of Khtsaberd has informed.

There are no conditions for starting negotiations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, since Nikol Pashinyan may cede power to revanchists, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The Nagorno-Karabakh's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has published a list of 36 military servicemen who perished during the hostilities in the conflict zone; thus, the death toll among the military personnel of the unrecognized republic has reached 1815.

The opposition's boycott of the work of the Parliament will lead to a stronger political crisis in Georgia, Nika Chitadze, a political analyst, believes. The absence of oppositional MPs in the Parliament increases the freedom of action for the "Georgian Dream", Giya Abashidze, his colleague, has objected.

In the evening on December 11, a shootout with Azerbaijani militaries occurred in the Gadrut direction; the health condition of three wounded soldiers of Nagorno-Karabakh is stable, the authorities of the unrecognized republic have informed.

The Volgograd Regional Court has supported the activist, Vladimir Telpuk, who demanded to cancel the fine of 10,000 roubles imposed on him for violating the order of holding an action.

Most of the Georgian opposition parties, which have overcome the electoral barrier at the parliamentary elections and refused to recognize the outcomes thereof, have applied to the Central Election Commissions (CEC) asking to annul their election lists.

There are electricity and water supplies in Berdzor; shops are open, while issues of further restoration of infrastructure should be resolved after the status of the city becomes clear, the Mayor said.

The customers of the murder of the politician, Boris Nemtsov, have been found, but the case should be "given another brush," Russian President, Vladimir Putin, believes.

French law enforcers have released five persons detained under the murder case of teacher Samuel Paty, without charging them.