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The Hajj cancellation for foreign pilgrims, imposed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, has disappointed Dagestani and Azerbaijani Muslims. However, many of them expressed hope that they would be able to make the pilgrimage next year.

Two more activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), Elnur Djabbarov and Mushvig Guliev, were arrested in Baku. Criminal charges were brought against them under three articles in connection with the action in support of the army. In total, at least 37 people have been prosecuted, human rights defenders and activists report, demanding the release of those arrested.

Ramzan Kadyrov, his relatives, and participants of religious rituals held in the house of the leader of Chechnya and at the grave of Akhmat Kadyrov ignored the requirements issued by the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare), although ordinary people are fined for such violations, local residents claim.

In the period starting from July 26, the Azerbaijani troops have fired about 1700 shots at the positions of the Defence Army, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Nagorno-Karabakh reported.

Three PACE rapporteurs monitoring Azerbaijan criticized the country's authorities for the mass detentions of participants of a protest action held in Baku on July 15 and the "fabricated" charges against activists.

Transgender people from Northern Caucasus cannot renew their IDs and find themselves in Russia outside the law, because they are afraid to visit their homeland because of the intolerance of their fellow countrymen. As a result, transgender people from Northern Caucasus often end up in the sex industry and are ready to flee the country, Radio Liberty reports in an interview with a transgender woman from Dagestan.

Residents of Ingushetia could not afford to buy meat on the holiday of Eid al-Adha because of financial difficulties, since prices for meat increased significantly before the holiday, believers reported.

The decision of the US Court of Appeal to revise the verdict to Chechen native Dzhokhar Tsarnaev provoked a resonance in Chechen Instagram public accounts. Residents of Chechnya believe Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not involved in a terror act at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Because of the threat of coronavirus infection, the managers of the "Tangim" Mosque in Makhachkala have urged women and children not to participate in the festive prayer; and there were fewer people praying on Eid al-Adha than in previous years. Law enforcers did not conduct their traditional Friday raid in the vicinity of the mosque.

Festive prayers on the occasion of Eid al-Adha were held in mosques in Chechnya under strict sanitary measures due to coronavirus. Some residents of the republic had to refuse from performing the rite of sacrifice, since after several months of self-isolation they have no money to buy meat.

The ban on rallies is justified by residents' right to health, Arman Tatoyan, the Armenian Ombudsman, believes. In his turn, Avetik Ishkhanyan, a rights defender, is objecting by stating that restrictions make it harder for residents to convey their concerns to the authorities, objected human rights activist.

Wearing an award with the image of General Yermolov, who in the Caucasus is treated as a "bloody executioner", has expectedly drawn criticism addressed to the colleague of Zamid Chalaev, the commander of the Akhmat Kadyrov Chechen special regiment, historians assert. They linked the appearance of the Yermolov Medal on the law enforcer's chest with professional deformation.

The number of activists of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), arrested after the July 15 rally in Baku, has reached 18; 16 other activists are criminally persecuted.

At detention of Ruslan Dadashev, a resident of Izberbash, law enforcers seized a pistol and explosives, but his relatives assert that the weapon had been planted on him. After the detention, pressure was exerted on Dadashev, his advocate has stated.

A decrease in the percentage of positive cases of the coronavirus infection to the number of daily tests indicates a stabilization of the situation with the COVID-19 epidemic, Armenian experts announce.

In Azerbaijan, mosques cancelled festive prayers. The authorities also banned the slaughter of sacrificial animals outside designated areas. Meanwhile, in large cities, the sale of meat was organized online and by order in stores.

During a search in a house of Murad Musaev, a resident of Kizilyurt, law enforcers found a pistol and detained the man on suspicion of helping a young woman to leave for Syria, the mother of the detainee said. According to her, there were no weapons in the house before the search.

Today, many of believers have come to the Juma Mosque for the festive prayer on the occasion of the holiday of Eid al-Adha. Despite the call voiced by the Muftiate, the believers wore no masks, Makhachkala residents noted. This year, some of the residents of Dagestan, whose incomes decreased because of the quarantine regime, refused to buy sacrificial cattle and go to visit their relatives and friends.

Holiday namazes (prayers) on the first day of the Sacrifice Holiday in mosques of Southern Russia were supposed to be held in compliance with sanitary security measures, but not all believers in Dagestan, Chechnya and the Stavropol Territory came there in medical masks and observed the social distance.

During the last 24 hours, the positions of Azerbaijani troops stationed in four villages on the border with Armenia and in the Karabakh conflict zone were shelled for 49 times, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed. In its turn, the MoD of Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shelling seven dwelling settlements.