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The man, who was killed during today's shelling in Makhachkala, was a former FSB officer; he was recently employed as assistant of the head of the Russian Federal Tax Service (FTS) for Dagestan, said a source in law enforcement bodies.

A law enforcement officer was killed today during a shootout in central Nazran. Besides, a suspected militant was killed and one more was wounded.

Magomed Gaziev, a resident of the village of Shamkhal, who was kidnapped on March 1 by unidentified persons, is kept in the temporary detention facility (known as "IVS") of Makhachkala, where he was beaten and tortured, as his relatives report.

As reported by Anna Usachova, head of the press service of the Moscow City Court, Judge Alexander Zamashnyuk, who is presiding at the trial on the murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, will be guarded for the purpose of his security.

The MIA of Dagestan reports that Nurullah Galimov, deputy head of the inter-regional inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia for the city of Dagestanskie Ogni, was detained for taking a bribe of 270,000 roubles.

Nagorno-Karabakh has reported the death of a regular soldier of its Defence Army Grigory Shakhkyanov, born in 1991, as a result of violating ceasefire in the north-eastern direction of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact (in Verkhniy Chailu).

The civil lawsuit of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" against Andrei Krasnenkov, legal representative of the head of Chechnya, on protection of the business reputation of the HRC has been sent to the Izmailovo District Court of Moscow.

At night on February 25, unknown assailants opened airgun fire on the liturgical building of Jehovah's Witnesses, located in the city of Novoshakhtinsk (Rostov Region). No injuries were registered. This was reported today by Grigory Martynov, spokesman of the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

As stated by Issa Akhilgov, head of the youth organization named "Assa", the picket on the Deportation Day of the Balkar nation, which was scheduled for March 8 near the memorial - the monument to victims of repression "Nine Towers" in Nazran, - was not sanctioned by the authorities.

On the day when appeals were considered against the verdict of the court, which had sentenced four activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" and the "Yabloko" Party to administrative arrests, protest actions were held in Moscow, Krasnodar and Tuapse demanding to release the arrested ecologists.

The Lithuanian film director Mantas Kvedaravichyus, author of the documentary "Barzakh" telling about disappearances and abductions in Chechnya, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about how his film was made.

On February 26, the Moscow Concert Hall "Izmailovskiy" hosted a traditional party of the first-year student, organized by the foundation for promotion of Karachay-Balkar youth named "Elbrusoid". One of the main topics raised by esteemed guests of the event in their addresses to former entrees was the behaviour of Caucasian youth in Moscow.

Under the order of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Republic will reconsider the criminal verdicts against a group of convicts serving their terms in the prison of "Chernokozovo", located in northern Chechnya. Mr Kadyrov made the decision after visiting the prison a few weeks ago.

During February 21-27, the armed conflict in Northern Caucasus took away at least 12 lives. At least 9 persons were injured during this period. These are the results of calculations made by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources.

Tamara Magmadova, mother of Apti Magmadov and Aishat Magmadova, who are kept in the "Lefortovo" FSB's pre-trial prison, charged of recruiting Egle Kusaite, a citizen of Lithuania, to commit terror acts in Russia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that her children are exposed to physical and psychological pressure and left without medical care.

At the trial on the case "Kadyrov vs. Orlov", which continued on March 3 in the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow, the defendant's advocate Genry Reznik would not agree to announcement at the trial of the evidences of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov without the personal presence of the claimant.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has upheld a lawsuit of Amnat Khambulatova, a resident of Chechnya, whose son died in a militia station, and ruled that the Russian authorities should pay the monetary compensation of about 33,500 euros to her.

The international NGO named "Lions Clubs", which is regularly providing assistance to victims of the Beslan terror act, has sent another shipment to North Ossetia - three boxes of school supplies for Beslan children.

The leader of the organization named "Chornye Yastreby" (Black Hawks), which positions itself as an anti-Wahhabite one, has stated that militants in Kabardino-Balkaria are just hiding behind religious slogans and kill civilians. Moreover, he said that the members of his organization will act against militants by using the latter's methods.

The activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" detained in the Tuapse District of the Krasnodar Territory, "are on a hunger strike against the militia and judicial arbitrariness for the second day in the detention facility of the Tuapse UVD (District Interior Department)," their colleagues report.