The inaugural session of the ninth convocation of Armenia’s National Assembly took place in Yerevan. The new parliament began its work with a political protest: during the swearing-in ceremony, opposition representatives refused to stand or recite the oath, whereas deputies from the ruling party stood while doing so. That same day, Nikol Pashinyan’s government resigned, in accordance with the Constitution.

Police in Russia's North Ossetia have launched an inquiry following a campaign of online harassment targeting women through the Telegram channel Kavkazskaya Obshchina ("Caucasian Community"). The channel's administrators published women's personal information, insulted them and issued threats of violence over behaviour they claimed violated Caucasian traditions. 

Russian law enforcement agencies have claimed that members of the Batalkhadzhin Sufi community were linked to the Caucasus Emirate*, a militant Islamist organisation. Human rights advocates, however, have questioned the allegations, noting that the group effectively ceased to exist more than a decade ago and that publicly available case materials contain little evidence of specific acts of support for militants.

Germany's decision to deport Chechen-born Muslim Alkhazov despite claims by his legal team that his family has been persecuted has sparked renewed concern among Chechen human rights advocates and members of the diaspora across Europe. They argue that the case could signal an emerging shift in how European authorities assess asylum claims filed by people from Chechnya.