The National Security Service of Armenia reported that Yezras Nersisyan, the brother of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, was recruited by the KGB during the Soviet period and given the codename "Karo."

During the annual "Year in Review" press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to a question about support for young families, noted the tradition of early marriages in the North Caucasus. He said he believed this was "right" and suggested "following their example," citing Ramzan Kadyrov's large family.

Following the murder of 10-year-old Kobiljon Aliyev, a boy from a Tajik family, at a school near Moscow, Adam Kadyrov, the son and aide of the head of Chechnya, stated that the tragedy was not an isolated incident, but the result of a "systemic problem."

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili criticized the statement by European Union Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas that the European Union supports the Georgian people, but not the country's government.