Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 10-17, 2022

Kadyrov’s ultimatum to the Ingush people; short-term aggravation of the situation near the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan; decisions of the European Court on the complaints filed by victims of the terror act in Beslan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 10-17, 2022, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Kadyrov’s ultimatum to Ingush people

On January 11, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov renewed his threats to take away part of the land from Ingushetia if the allegations that the Chechen authorities illegally seized Ingush territories continue. The leader of Chechnya demanded from the people of Ingushetia that all claims against him should be voiced within three days. Human rights defenders suggest that after the expiration of the ultimatum, Ramzan Kadyrov may take the most severe measures against the residents of Ingushetia, who will come forward with claims against Chechnya. Sarazhdin Sultygov, the co-chair of the public organization “Mekh-Kkhel”, urged Ramzan Kadyrov to convene a commission to determine the borders and Chechen officials – to refrain from criticizing the residents of Ingushetia.

On January 15, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that none of the residents of Ingushetia declared a blood feud or appealed to the elders, which demonstrated that the Ingush people had no claims against him. The leader of Chechnya accused human rights defenders of aggravating the situation and threatened with negative consequences for those who would “write nasty things.” Ramzan Kadyrov also instructed his subordinates to remove hostile allegations against Ingushetia posted on social media.

It should be noted that Ramzan Kadyrov’s ultimatum was preceded by an apology from Yakhya Khadziev, the former chief of the Ingush Department for Religious Affairs, who apologized that he warmly greeted the leader of Chechnya at a meeting in Grozny. After that, supporters of Ramzan Kadyrov voiced threats against residents of Ingushetia, and Yakhya Khadziev apologized again, but this time to Ramzan Kadyrov. Analysts suggest that Yakhya Khadziev apologized to Ramzan Kadyrov on his own initiative and that his apology was unlikely connected with the ultimatum voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov.

Short-term aggravation of situation near border between Armenia and Azerbaijan

On January 11 and 12, Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged accusations of shelling attacks near the border in which people were injured. On January 11, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan announced the death of a soldier in the Kelbadjar District after a shelling attack from Armenia. The Ministry of Defence of Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shelling attacks and reported on January 11 about the deaths of two soldiers and the wounding of other two. Then the MoD of Azerbaijan accused Armenia of destabilizing the situation at the border. On January 12, a body of the third dead Armenian soldier was found. Officials from Baku stated that the Armenian military forces used small arms and machine guns to shell the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the Kelbadjar and Tovuz Districts.

A new round of armed conflict on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan began amid the entry of peacekeepers into Kazakhstan, and the Armenian authorities are looking for a pretext to deploy forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the conflict zone, Azerbaijani political analysts sate. It should be noted that the CSTO troops stayed in Kazakhstan for a week, and the Armenian peacekeepers left the country on January 13.

Emergency situations in Southern Russia because of bad weather

On January 15, in Southern Russia, a sharp change in the weather caused various problems. Strong winds resulted in power outages in the houses of more than 35,000 residents of the Stavropol Territory. In the regional centre, 104 trees fell down, and nine cars and 20 roofs of buildings were damaged. Residents of the Volgograd Region were left without electricity supply, and 35 people were evacuated from snow-covered roads. Due to wind and snowfall in Dagestan, about 55,000 people were cut off from the electricity supply. Power outages caused by bad weather conditions took place in Sochi.

Decisions of European Court on complaints filed by victims of terror act in Beslan and torture in Grozny police

On January 11, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded 360,000 euros in compensation to 39 victims of the Beslan school siege in 2004 and to relatives of those killed. The European Court ruled that the article of the European Convention on Human Rights, providing for prevention of a threat to life, had been violated. According to the Strasbourg Court, the authorities of Russia failed to take the necessary measures to investigate the circumstances of the terror act and the reasons for the deaths of the hostages.

The ECtHR also awarded 503,000 euros to Russian citizens who suffered from torture, including residents of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan, brought to a police department in Grozny. In their appeals, the people complained about unlawful detentions, torture with electric current, and beatings.