Russian billionaire Ruben Vardanyan was reportedly detained by the Azerbaijani military

The wife of the former minister of state of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, ex-citizen of the Russian Federation, billionaire Ruben Vardanyan reported that contact with him had been lost.

People around the businessman confirm this information, and TV presenter Tina Kandelaki wrote on the social network: “Friends, my friend, former Minister of State of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan was arrested by the Azerbaijani military.” According to media reports, he was detained today by the Azerbaijani side at a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor.

At the end of 2022, Vardanyan decided to withdraw from his status as a citizen of the Russian Federation. He left Russia and became the Minister of State of Nagorno-Karabakh, calling on the Russian leadership to provide support to the region and Armenia. He later left his post under pressure from Azerbaijan.

Последние новости
Aliyev: Armenia Must Reveal the Fates of Missing Azerbaijanis
Politics
Aliyev: Armenia Must Reveal the Fates of Missing Azerbaijanis
7 October 2026

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev considers determining the fates of missing persons to be one of the state's most important issues. He stated this in an address to participants of the 4th International Conference on Missing Persons, currently taking place in Baku.
Saakashvili calls for closing Georgia's border with Russia over plague reports
Politics
Saakashvili calls for closing Georgia's border with Russia over plague reports
7 October 2026

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has urged the country's authorities to close the border with Russia and ban Russian citizens from entering. He outlined his position on Facebook from custody, commenting on reports regarding the death of an employee at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute.
Keys to 52 new homes handed to Dagestan flood victims
Society
Keys to 52 new homes handed to Dagestan flood victims
6 October 2026

On October 6, in the settlement of Mamedkala in Dagestan’s Derbent District, keys to 52 new homes were handed to families who had lost their housing due to spring flooding. The ceremony was attended by Yana Lantratova, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, and Fedor Shchukin, the Acting Head of the Republic.
Sixteen imprisoned female journalists from Russia and Ukraine receive Politkovskaya Award
Human rights
Sixteen imprisoned female journalists from Russia and Ukraine receive Politkovskaya Award
6 October 2026

The Anna Politkovskaya Award has this year been given to 11 Russian and five Ukrainian female journalists who are imprisoned in Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

 

According to the award’s founder, the international organisation RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR), the nominations committee praised the “courage and integrity” of the laureates, who “risk their freedom and even their lives to report on the war and speak out against human rights violations, war crimes and the escalating repression of journalists, human rights defenders and anti-war activists in Russia”.