On May 18, 1944, the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea began.

Authorities in Kabardino-Balkaria have once again denied permission for a memorial march to be held on May 21—Remembrance Day for the Adyghe (Circassians), victims of the Caucasian War.

Azerbaijan has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall: between 70 and 103 mm of rain fell in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula over the past 24 hours. 

Azerbaijani opposition figure Gulu Mehmedli harshly criticized the authorities, accusing the country's leadership of repression, fear-mongering, and suppression of public activism. 

In the run-up to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Deportation of the Crimean Tatar People, law enforcement officials began handing out official warnings to Crimean Tatar activists and human rights defenders against participating in unauthorized events.

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stated that the imposition of Western liberal values ​​and pressure on the church are leading to a split in Armenian society.

On May 16, unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant in Stavropol Krai. A massive fire broke out at the facility.

Marina Akhmedova, a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council from Dagestan, a former journalist who once wrote sympathetic reports from Ukraine, now one of the most rabid propagandists of the war, and editor-in-chief of the publication Regnum, has once again expressed outrage over the performance of "public prayer" – this time by a Muslim from Central Asia.

At the 135th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, held in Moldova, Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili presented her vision of the challenges facing Europe.

Former Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has been awarded the prestigious Freedom House award for her contribution to the development of democratic values.