Guide

On February 28, 2026, Israel and the United States began striking Iran. Donald Trump announced the start of a large-scale military operation. In response, Iran launched strikes against Israel and American military targets in the Middle East. The escalation of the military conflict provoked mixed reactions in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

In June 2026, Armenia will hold its next elections to the National Assembly. Even before the vote date was announced, parties announced their intention to participate in the elections to change the current political situation in the country. The "Caucasian Knot" report discusses the participants and specifics of Armenia's electoral system.

The Baku Military Court concluded the trial of fifteen former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, detained in the fall of 2023. They were charged with war crimes against Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people under 20 articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code. On February 5, 2026, the court sentenced the defendants to life and other long-term imprisonment terms.

A wave of conflicting reports followed reports of an accident involving Adam Kadyrov's motorcade in Grozny on January 16, 2026. Sources claimed that Adam Kadyrov himself and his entourage were injured; official agencies did not confirm the incident, but Kadyrov Jr. ceased appearing in public.

In recent years, Chechnya has seen at least four serious road accidents involving relatives and close associates of the republic's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. These accidents, resulting in fatalities and injuries, are accompanied by a lack of official investigations, pressure on witnesses, and attempts to conceal information.

Following Vladimir Solovyov's statement about the admissibility of Russia's military intervention in Armenia, the Yerevan Foreign Ministry issued an official protest, and public organizations demanded an investigation. Armenian politicians viewed the TV presenter's remarks as a threat to sovereignty and an attempt to pressure the country.

Chechen Mufti Salakh Mezhiyev called Jews "enemies of Allah," sparking sharp criticism and accusations of anti-Semitism from Jewish organizations and the public. Attempts to justify and edit the publications in Chechnya's official newspaper failed to ease the tension and were deemed unfounded by experts.

Alla Pugacheva spoke about the First Chechen War and Dzhokhar Dudayev in her first major interview after leaving Russia. Ramzan Kadyrov responded to the singer's words, advising her "not to provoke an entire nation."

As part of the Single Voting Day from September 12 to 14, 2025, elections are being held in some regions of southern Russia and the North Caucasus. In Kuban and Rostov Oblast, governors are being elected, and in a number of other regions, city council deputies, heads of cities and towns are being elected.

The weddings of Ramzan Kadyrov's sons are preceded by public meetings with Vladimir Putin. The celebrations themselves are accompanied by lavish ceremonies and symbolic gestures from government officials. At the same time, the names of the wives of the Chechen leader's sons are not publicly announced.

In May 2025, the leader of Chechnya stated that he asked to be released from the post. However, on the other day, Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that he was misunderstood. Over the past ten years, the leader of Chechnya has announced his desire to resign at least seven times and remained in office.

During the six days of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, a lot of rumours and conjectures have appeared. What is really known about the participation of Chechen law enforcers, about their losses and statements of the republic's leadership, – read the details in the reference material of the "Caucasian Knot".

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his entourage have attacked the Yangulbaev family with threats; and on February 2, they organized a rally in central Grozny to condemn the family. How the conflict began, what are Kadyrov's accusations and the Yangulbaevs' answer, as well as what does the oppositional Telegram channel has to do with it – see below in the reference material of the "Caucasian Knot".

Ramadan (Arabic) or Ramazan (Persian and Turkic) is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, the month of fasting (as-saum). Ramadan is the month of spiritual and moral cleaning, as well as of faith and will strengthening. In 2020, Ramadan began at sunset on April 23; the first day of fasting (Uraza) was April 24; and the month will end on May 23.

The day of October 23, 2019, marked the 17th anniversary of the seizure of the Dubrovka Theatre Centre. The terror act took place in Moscow, on October 23-26, 2002. A group of armed militants led by Movsar Baraev took 916 hostages. The terrorists demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in Chechnya and the withdrawal of federal troops from the republic. During rescue operation 130 hostages, including 10 children, were killed, and more than 700 other hostages were injured.

On September 5, 2016, Chechen journalist Zhalaudi Geriev, working for the 'Caucasian Knot', was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony on charges of drug possession. Prior to his arrest, on April 16, 2016, Geriev was kidnapped by armed men on his way to the airport after he had already bought an airline ticket and registered online. After kidnapping law enforcers confiscated his phones and backpack, which allegedly contained drugs. The armed men then took the journalist to the forest and questioned him, tying his hands and putting a plastic bag over his head.

February 23 marks 75 years since the beginning of the Stalin's deportation of Chechen and Ingush people. However, the memorial day is not officially marked in Chechnya itself. Ruslan Kutaev, the chair of the Assembly of the Peoples of the Caucasus, who publicly spoke in 2014 against the ban on the February mourning events, was sentenced on the falsified charge and sent to prison for almost four years.

The history of kidnappings, torture and murders of gays in Chechnya has touched on not only men, many of whom left Russia or went, well in advance, to study and work in other regions. The fate of a woman of non-traditional sexual orientation is entirely in the hands of her relatives; and they are no less cruel than law enforcers. The "Caucasian Knot" tells about what queer women face in Chechnya.