The court has extended the pretrial detention of Shahin Shikhlinsky, the former head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg. He will be held in pretrial detention until at least May 31, 2026.

Azerbaijan has enacted an amnesty law marking the Year of Constitution and Sovereignty. This measure will affect approximately 20,000 people and will be implemented within four months.

The final ranking of Russian regions' socioeconomic development for 2025, compiled by RIA Novosti, revealed a significant lag in the North Caucasus republics. Ingushetia ranked last, 85th. Karachay-Cherkessia (81st), North Ossetia (78th), Chechnya (77th), Kabardino-Balkaria (75th), and Dagestan (74th) also ranked low.

On Sunday, December 21, an expanded meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) was held in St. Petersburg. The meeting, chaired by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, was attended by the heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Chairman of the EAEU Board, Bakytzhan Sagintayev.