News

January 09, 2024 21:18

• Court fines Volgograd activist for her pacifist statements

  Natalia Dorozhnova, an activist, has been fined for her statements in an interview that the court treated as discrediting the Russian Army. She refused to admit her guilt, reminding that the freedom of speech is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.

January 09, 2024 18:57

• Defence of Chechen Mukaev reports the risk of his return to Russia to court

  If deported to Russia, Salman Mukaev, a native of Grozny, risks persecution and violence, his defence has stated at a court session held in Yerevan. Mukaev himself said that threats to his relatives living in Chechnya stopped after the Chechen law enforcers became aware of his whereabouts.

January 09, 2024 16:21

• Picket in support of journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev evokes response from Makhachkala residents

  Passers-by supported a solo picket in support of Dagestani journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev, sentenced in a terrorism case, and asked about his fate, noted Magomed Magomedov, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Dagestani weekly newspaper “Chernovik” (Rough Draft).

January 09, 2024 16:08

• Chechen media remind about Kadyrov's threats to militants' relatives

  Relatives of those residents of Chechnya who are suspected of extremism must be held accountable along with them as accomplices, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, has stated. Before that, on the eve of the New Year, he expressed threats to relatives of people suspected of extremism.

January 08, 2024 23:56

• Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 1-7, 2024

  Repressions and presidential election in Azerbaijan, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, echoes of Nagorno-Karabakh, unabashed trolling and intensified repressions by Kadyrov, and official data on the natives of Southern Russia who perished in Ukraine, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 1-7, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

January 08, 2024 20:15

• Yeisk resident fined for posting pacifist comment on social network

  A court fined Igor Fedotov, a resident of Yeisk, 40,000 roubles, considering his pacifist comment on the “VKontakte” social network as discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.

January 08, 2024 17:52

• Contract soldier convicted in Rostov-on-Don for evading service

  A court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Sergey Zaitsev, a military contractor, to 5.5 years in prison, finding him guilty of leaving his military unit without permission.

January 08, 2024 16:39

• Rights defenders point to increased persecution of Chechen authorities' critics

  Chechen authorities are continuously persecuting their critics and, in an attempt to finally suppress them, use such methods as pressure on their relatives.

January 08, 2024 02:13

• Nalchik court sentences officer to freedom deprivation for evading service

  The Nalchik Garrison Military Court has sentenced Dagi Gadiev, an officer from Ingushetia, to five years in penal colony, finding him guilty of leaving his military unit without permission.

January 07, 2024 23:58

• Analysts treat Kadyrov's statement about POWs as his personal initiative

  Ramzan Kadyrov's proposal to lift sanctions in exchange for the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) was his personal initiative, not of the Kremlin, which is also confirmed by the attempt of the head of Chechnya to explain his words, analysts have pointed out, emphasizing that decisions about POWs are made in Moscow.

January 07, 2024 23:38

• Kadyrov declares offer to exchange Ukrainian POWs for lifting sanctions as trolling

  The proposal of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, to release 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), if sanctions against his relatives are lifted, was criticized by a number of pro-government Russian bloggers. Kadyrov has treated this offer as "fat trolling" against American authorities.

January 07, 2024 23:23

• Bakaev, native of Chechnya, fined for criticizing Kadyrov's men

  A court in Chechnya has fined Ali Bakaev, a native of the republic living in Ukraine, in absentia, finding him guilty of inciting hatred against Kadyrov's supporters. Russian law enforcers plan to repeatedly seek his extradition to Russia, Bakaev himself has suggested.

January 07, 2024 23:05

• Ingush authorities report reconciliation of feudist families

  After requests from theologians and authorities, six families in Ingushetia abandoned their declared blood feud.

January 07, 2024 20:04

• Kadyrov's order to kill relatives deepens fear atmosphere in Chechnya

  Chechen authorities have long used intimidation of opponents' families in the fight against them, but Kadyrov's recent order to kill relatives of crime suspects could lead to real murders that will not be restrained by the practice of blood feud, human rights defenders have stated.

January 07, 2024 18:38

• Kadyrov offers to release Ukrainian POWs in exchange for lifting sanctions

  The head of Chechnya has stated that he is ready to release 20 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) if the sanctions introduced against his relatives, as well as his horses and aircrafts, are lifted.

January 07, 2024 18:13

• Analysts argue about relevance of anti-corruption checks in Northern Caucasus

  When commenting on a report about an expensive Moscow apartment owned by a spouse of Deputy Prime Minister of Kabardino-Balkaria Muaed Kunizhev, lawyers have pointed out that the information about expensive real estate properties of relatives should become a reason for checking an official for corruption.

January 06, 2024 16:17

• Political analysts assess Kadyrov’s role in exchange of prisoners

  Ramzan Kadyrov has well-established connections in the Middle East and could play an important role in involving the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to an exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) between Russia and Ukraine, political analysts believe.

January 05, 2024 23:13

• Court obliges Stavropol penal colony to pay compensation to prisoner

  Georgy Kolyan, a convict with disabilities, requested compensation of 900,000 roubles for the lack of medical care and violation of conditions of detention in a Stavropol penal colony. The Stavropol Territorial Court recognized the violations, but assessed moral damage at 50,000 roubles.

January 05, 2024 19:09

• Ukrainian court sentences two "Rosgvardiya" fighters from Dagestan

  Two fighters of the "Rosgvardiya" (Russian National Guard) from Dagestan were found guilty by a Ukrainian court of torturing civilians in Zaporozhye and sentenced them in absentia to 12 years of freedom deprivation each.

January 05, 2024 19:02

• Wife of mobilized man from Volgograd Region demands to speed up his after-wound treatment

  After being wounded in Ukraine, Oleg Rybkin, a mobilized Dubovka resident, needs urgent surgery and examination, but the command of his military unit is protracting with the decision, Irina Rybkina, Oleg's wife, has complained.