A criminal case on the creation of a terrorist group and participation in it has been opened in Dagestan. The defendants are four residents of the republic, killed last week in a shootout with security forces in Makhachkala. Another defendant was sent to custody. The names of all five defendants are unknown.

The first hearing in the criminal case against journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova was held in the 2nd Western District Military Court. She is accused of justifying terrorism. The court rejected the defense's motion.

Activist Asan Akhtemov, sentenced to 15 years, was taken to IK-5 in the Arkhangelsk region. He told his wife that the transfer from Vladimir was difficult and he fell ill.

The socio-political situation in Dagestan has been and remains stable, and there is no need to block Telegram for a long time. This was stated by the head of the regional Ministry of Digital Development, Gamzatov.

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former personal financier of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in absentia to 11 years in prison on charges of embezzlement of cryptocurrency and legalization of illegal income. Two more cases against him remain pending, one of which is for illegal border crossing.

Interpol has removed 64-year-old Chechen native Muslim Madiyev from its wanted list. He is one of the commanders of the Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion fighting for Ukraine. It is unknown on what grounds and when exactly Madiyev was included in the wanted list.

Chechnya called for a review of the decision to block the Telegram messenger. Residents of the region have the same right to receive and disseminate information as other citizens of the Russian Federation, said Minister of National Policy, External Relations and Information Akhmed Dudayev.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are being asked to create an independent DNA database to search for those missing from the First and Second Karabakh Wars. The initiative was outlined in a report by the International Commission on Missing Persons.

In 2024, Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya recorded the highest share of unemployed people in the Russian Federation from the total number of economically active population - 25.5%, 11.5% and 7.5%, respectively. These are the data of the research agency "RIA Rating" based on the results of the fourth quarter of last year.

President Mikheil Kavelashvili has scheduled local government elections in Georgia for October 2025. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili is convinced that the opposition will participate in them, despite ongoing protests and the virtual absence of opponents of the government in parliament. In his opinion, the political statements of opposition representatives do not play a big role and they will ultimately be forced to participate in the elections, since the legislation adopted by parliament and the composition of the Central Election Commission will ensure their participation.