Ali Gasanov, an assistant to Azerbaijani president, has stated that his country is ready to provide the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) with broad autonomy if it gets back to Azerbaijan. The political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", were sceptical about this proposal.

In 2017, Azerbaijani authorities scaled up their attacks on human rights, the activists and political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe. They pointed to a severe verdict on the "Nardaran case" and increased pressure on independent journalists.

The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) (banned in Russia) claims responsibility for the explosion in a supermarket in Saint Petersburg on December 27, the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks terrorists’ network activities has reported.

Law enforcers treat the detention of 15 Muslims after their regular Friday prayer (namaz) in a Makhachkala mosque as a preventive action. All the detainees were released, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has assured.

Moscow law enforcers are investigating the attack on Djemal Aliev, a Dagestani journalist. Two of his fellow countrymen have been detained; the third one is being searched for.

Today, the Leninsky Court of Makhachkala has satisfied the claim lodged by townspeople demanding to forbid the construction of the Orthodox cathedral in the park near Lake Ak-Gel.

The border with Georgia will be closed from December 31 until the morning of January 2, because of enforced security measures during the New Year celebrations, South-Ossetian State Security Committee (KGB) wrote on the Facebook.

At Tbilisi's request, Turkish law enforcers have detained Gocha (Ali) Saginadze, a Georgian citizen and an Akhmed Chataev's acquaintance.

Seven residents of the capital of Chechnya, kidnapped in November, were released after almost a month of stay in an illegal prison, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reports.

On December 28, the constituent assembly of the Congress of the Nogai People was held in the village of Erken-Khalk, Nogai District of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR). The Congress should defend the rights of the Nogais living in the region.

In Krasnodar, Andrei Rudomakha, a coordinator of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), was attacked. As a result, he was hospitalized.

The terror act at the railway station and the explosion in a trolleybus committed four years ago became a terrible tragedy for the city, Volgograd residents told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Employees of the railway station, who avoided injuries, did not receive compensation for severe psychological harm inflicted to them.

In Georgia, tariffs for supply of electricity and tap water will rise on January 1, 2018. The State Commission has explained the growth of tariffs by the need for repair and development of pipelines and power grids. After the increase in tariffs, prices for goods will also rise, economists noted.

Today, in Tbilisi, the court has pronounced the decision to take into custody four men detained during a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge and accused of aiding and abetting terrorists.

In Gori, 445 families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia and South Ossetia were granted apartments in eight new buildings, the Georgian authorities reported.

On December 27, rescuers used a helicopter to evacuate two snowboarders from Moscow who stuck among rocks in the area in Sochi, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) reports.