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The attack on Grozny could be the implementation of the threats announced by the leaders of the "Islamic State" (IS) to the leadership of Chechnya, said Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and a member of the Scientific Council of the Moscow Carnegie Centre.

The today's armed clashes in Grozny became the third major action of the armed underground in Chechnya after the terror act in October and blow up of an infantry combat vehicle (known as BMP) in April.

The increase of optimism in Russians towards the situation in Northern Caucasus continues; and the overwhelming majority of Russian citizens reject the idea of separatism – these are the outcomes of the latest polling conducted by the "Levada Centre".

The Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan has refuted the statement of the arrested rights defender Leyla Yunus that she is exposed to physical and moral pressure at the Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison). The release of the Service reports that Leyla was reprimanded for unethical behaviour in relation to medics.

The France's "Europe Ecology-Green" Party has demanded from the Russian authorities to stop pressure on activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and review the court's decision in the case against ecologist Evgeny Vitishko.

Said Mazhaev, a resident of Grozny, sentenced to two years of imprisonment for involvement in the warfare in Syria, who is being kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), has reported that he is to be transferred to a penal colony, although the appeal against the sentence has not yet been considered.

In the settlement of Vremenny, the Commission to assess damage inflicted by the regime of counterterrorist operation (CTO) has found 42 houses unfit for habitation. 18 houses were completely destroyed during the CTO, and 24 houses with yards were recognized to be demolished.

The Dagestani Prosecutor's Office has sent to the court the criminal case against the 28-year-old resident of Makhachkala Zakir Isaev, accused of participation in an illegal armed formation (IAF).

The health status of Magomed Aliev, a student from Dagestan, who is in the intensive care unit at a Stavropol hospital after he was detained by power agents on suspicion of promoting terrorism, has become worse.

On December 3, the lawyer Ramiz Mamedov was unable to meet his client Leyla Yunus, who is kept in SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 of Baku and expressed fears that her health has worsened; and there is threat to her life.

SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 of Ingushetia, where inmates are on hunger strike, has no problems with health care and no ban to receive foodstuffs from relatives, which were the points of the complaint declared by inmates to the members of the Public Oversight Commission (POC), who visited the SIZO.

The Supreme Court (SC) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) continued hearings on the case of a local resident, who was killed in a counterterrorist operation (CTO) in April 2013.

The man, who triggered an explosion in a private house of the Nogai District of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic and killed two children, is an unemployed resident of North Ossetia. During the explosion, a 13-year-old girl was also in the house; she was not hurt.

The international movement against corruption Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014, according to which Georgia takes the 50th place, Armenia – the 94th one, Azerbaijan – the 126th one and Russia – the 136th place.

A policeman, who preferred to remain anonymous had delivered to the wife of the Kislovodsk Imam Kurman-Ali Baichorov, accused of drug possession, a written statement about the organizers of his kidnapping and those who planted drugs on him and initiated his criminal prosecution, said Imam's advocate.

In Sochi, about 50 the so-called "Olympic resettlers" and natural disaster victims, living in the boarding house named "Neptune", held a meeting and signed an appeal to the City Public Prosecutor stating their intolerable living conditions.

The attack on the mosque in Baku settlement of Garachukhur was aimed at creating religious-based tension in Azerbaijan and indicates a growing terror threat, experts believe. The incident has proved that even small radical groups can commit resonant crimes, said Khikmet Gadjizade, a political scientist.

The Supreme Court (SC) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic has satisfied the petition on exemption of Arthur Ismailov, convicted on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism, from punishment.

The Binagadi District Court of Baku has added an episode of dissemination in 2011 of the material allegedly defaming the former oppositionist Elman Turkoglu (Gasanov) to the case of the journalist Khadija Ismayilova, accused of slander.

At a detention attempt, an unidentified man threw a grenade at policemen and wounded two of them.