Rustam Shipiyev, a contract soldier from Chechnya, was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony. According to the case file, he failed to return to his military unit after undergoing treatment at a sanatorium. Instead, he went home, where he was detained by military commandant's office officers.

Vladimir Putin stated that he would consider Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov's proposal to return Volgograd to its historical name, Stalingrad.

Crimean Tatar activist Servet Gaziyev, serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 5 in Kamchatka, has again complained of deteriorating health.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commented on the possibility of using the transport corridor connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan (the "Trump Route") for arms transportation. He stated that such a scenario is possible, but only with reciprocity.

Adam Kadyrov, the 17-year-old son of the head of Chechnya, continues to rapidly expand his sphere of influence in the republic. Ramzan Kadyrov announced his son's new responsibility: overseeing property tax payments by municipal companies.

Heated debate continues around Alla Pugacheva's latest interview. According to Argumenty i Fakty, lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky, who previously defended the murderers of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, believes that law enforcement agencies may conduct an investigation and even open a criminal case based on the singer's statements.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan denied that the decision to remove the image of Mount Ararat from passport stamps was made under Turkish pressure. He emphasized that the issue had been discussed domestically long before contacts with Turkey and had never been the subject of bilateral negotiations.

The Tbilisi City Court ordered Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa! party, to post bail in the amount of 5,000 lari. She is accused of intentionally damaging the campaign banners of Tbilisi mayoral candidate Kakha Kaladze.

A Finexpertiza study found a direct correlation between the average salary in a region and the degree of wage inequality. Regions in the North Caucasus deviate from this trend, boasting the smallest national gap between the incomes of the highest and lowest-paid workers.

The Czech Republic is officially introducing a visa regime for holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports for stays of up to 90 days within six months. The new restrictions are a response to human rights violations and the Georgian authorities' pressure on civil society and the opposition.