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On November 12, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan announced the airspace over the "occupied territories" closed for flights. Such decision was made after the incident with the Mi-24 helicopter shot down yesterday in Nagorno-Karabakh.

On November 12, the OSCE Observation Mission produced a weekly report on the situation at the border checkpoints "Gukovo" and "Donetsk" in the Rostov area of the Russian-Ukrainian border. OSCE observers record the increase in the number of border crossings in both directions by people in military uniform. The UN believes that the lack of effective border control prevents the establishment of peace in Donbas.

Six hunger-strikers from Makhachkala, Dagestan, who demanded resignation of Ramazan Abdulatipov, the head of the republic, have stopped their protest action for health reasons. Officials from Abdulatipov's administration stated that Dagestani authorities have started to implement the agreements earlier reached with the hunger-strikers.

Three persons perished today in the crash of the Mi-24 helicopter shot down today by the Azerbaijani military forces. Such incidents may expand the scale of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, said Lamberto Zannier, the OSCE Secretary General.

On November 12, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan refused to satisfy the cassation complaint lodged by journalist Parviz Gashimli against the earlier rejection of his demand to hold a repeated partial judicial trial. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by the lawyer Elchin Sadygov, who believes that without the above partial re-trial the consideration of the appeal complaint will be biased.

Today, in the Rostov Region, five residents of the city of Zverevo have declared an endless hunger strike demanding to return the suspended donations for housing and communal services.

The South Ossetian President has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of South Ossetia to establish diplomatic relations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR, respectively).

In Rostov-on-Don, the house of Boris Batyj, an activist of the Rostov branch of the "December 5 Party", has been searched, and several hard disks were seized. This was reported by Sergey Davidis, a staff member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and a member of the standing committee of the "December 5 Party".

Members of the Lak National Council have called a provocation a hunger strike declared by residents of the villages of Tarki, Kyakhulai, and Alburikent, who demand to transfer Karaman land to their Jamaat. The Lak National Council has urged the authorities to solve as soon as possible the problems of immigrants, who, according to the members of the Lak National Council, may turn into an interethnic conflict.

In Dagestan, only 35 children from the settlement of Vremenny of the Untsukul District go to schools, and other 75 children have not started their studies, local residents report. Officials from the Education Department for the Untsukul District deny the information.

On November 10, the Krasnodar Regional Court considered an appeal filed by Darya Polyudova, an activist of the "Rot Front" against her arrest and upheld the lower court's decision to extend the arrest until late November. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Viktor Chirikov, an activist of the Krasnodar branch of the All-Russian democratic movement "Solidarity".

Continuation of the hunger strike in Makhachkala and involvement of new protestors represent a destructive position and violate earlier agreements with the authorities. This was stated by Denga Khalidov, the Adviser to the Dagestani leader.

The police will supervise the Children's Centre "Zabota" (Care) in Makhachkala; however, today the institution operated in its normal mode, said Zarema Alieva, the head of the centre.

A Sunday School for school-age children with free lessons of the Lezgin language was opened in Moscow under the Federal Lezgin National-Cultural Autonomy (FLNCA). Adults can visit lessons on a paid basis.

Today, the Moscow City Court (MCC) has dismissed the complaint lodged by the ex-Mayor of Makhachkala Said Amirov and his nephew Yusup Djaparov, convicted earlier for preparing a terror act, against the decision to extend their arrest.

As a part of the procedural "provisional measures", the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has urgently requested the Azerbaijani government to provide answers to questions regarding the health state of the rights defender Intigam Aliev.

Today, the Moscow City Court has refused to grant the appeal to postpone the punishment for ex-militiaman Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who was sentenced for involvement in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". Advocates of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov have filed a motion to postpone the punishment, since Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was diagnosed with a number of diseases.

Today, the centre of Astrakhan has hosted a series of solo pickets. The protest actions were timed to the today's meeting of the Regional Duma. Supporters of Oleg Shein, a deputy of the Regional Duma, who came to the pickets, demanded to preserve the direct election of the City Mayor.

A court in Grozny has sentenced Said Mazhaev, a resident of the Staropromyslovskiy District of the Chechen capital, accused of involvement in the warfare in Syria as a militant, to two years of imprisonment. Relatives and friends of Said Mazhaev treat the verdict as overly severe.

The Khosta District Court of Sochi has sentenced Olga Martynyuk, a teacher of world literature, to one year of imprisonment in a penal settlement-colony for beating a court marshal. Olga Martynyuk and her advocate do not agree with the sentence, and they intend to file a complaint against the verdict within 10 days.