This evening, Saudi Arabia announced the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan in 2026. February 18th will be the first day of the month-long fast for Muslims worldwide, which will last until March 19th. March 20th will mark the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

On February 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin received Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, the Head of Ingushetia, in the Kremlin. According to official reports, the meeting focused on large-scale investment projects in the republic, debt reduction, and construction development.

The prosecutor has requested a 23-year prison sentence for Shahin Shikhlinsky, the former head of Yekaterinburg's Azerbaijani diaspora. He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder of businessmen.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed considering the possibility of transferring the management rights to the Armenian railway concession to a third country that maintains "friendly relations" with both Yerevan and Moscow. He stated that such a measure could address Armenia's loss of competitive advantages amid the development of international transport routes bypassing the republic.

It has been reported that Georgia's State Security Service has summoned the country's former deputy prime minister and former high-ranking officials of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, including CEO Giorgi Chikovani, for questioning. The testimony is reportedly being taken as part of an investigation into an agreement with a major oil company.

The former head of the Nagorno-Karabakh government, former Russian citizen, and billionaire Ruben Vardanyan has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The sentence was handed down by the Baku Military Court.

The Southern Federal Military Court has extended the pretrial detention of Rustem Aybazov, an activist from Karachay-Cherkessia and a father of five, for six months. He is accused of financing terrorism based on testimony from law enforcement and a secret witness.

According to the newspaper "Hraparak," Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II refused to testify to investigators in the criminal case brought against him. Earlier, the Mother See of Etchmiadzin (the spiritual and administrative center of the Armenian Apostolic Church) called the actions of the Investigative Committee a gross and unlawful interference in church affairs with political overtones.