On May 21, the Adyghe-Abkhaz peoples celebrate the day of remembrance and mourning for the victims of the Caucasian War. Mourning events were held in Nalchik and Cherkessk.

“On this day, we bow our heads to the memory of all who fell victim to the Caucasian War, who were forced to leave their native land, who went through many hardships and deprivations in a foreign land,” the head of Kabardino-Balkaria Kazbek Kokov wrote in his Telegram channel.

The head of Karachay-Cherkessia Rashid Temrezov, in turn, said that the Caucasian War became a test for all participants in those events - Circassians, Abazins, Nogais, Cossacks, as well as “representatives of other peoples whose destinies were intertwined in that difficult historical period.”

The Caucasian War (1817–1864) is a general name for the military actions of the Russian Imperial Army associated with the annexation of the North Caucasus to the Russian Empire and its military confrontation with the mountain peoples. After the war, the Adyghe (Circassians) were forced to leave their homeland en masse.