Week in the Caucasus: review of main events on January 27-February 2

Passage of the Olympic Torch Relay in the republics of Northern Caucasus; detention in Dagestan of suspected helpers to suicide bombers and identification of initiators of terror acts in Volgograd, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 27-February 2, 2014, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Snow and frost in Rostov, Astrakhan and Volgograd Regions and Stavropol Territory

After heavy snowfalls, many-kilometre-long traffic jams blocked the highways of the Rostov Region. Residents of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog reported shortage of bread in shops. On January 30, the Region was put under the state of emergency; and on January 31, the local Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) received a call for help. 10 people with signs of frostbite, a girl with an attack of appendicitis and a pregnant woman were taken by rescuers' helicopter from the snow-covered highway. On February 2, the press service of the Chief Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the Rostov Region reported that all the jams in the roads of the Rostov Region had been completely eliminated.

On January 29, a heavy snowfall struck the Stavropol Territory; and by the evening of the same day traffic was limited in the three sections of the "Kavkaz" Highway. On January 31, the highway Mineralnye Vody-Kislovodsk was blocked.

In Volgograd, strong frosts cancelled school classes from January 31 to February 1. The MfE of the Volgograd Region spread an emergency warning about an abnormally cold weather persisting in the Region. Classes in schools of the Astrakhan Region were also cancelled because of cold weather.

Olympic Torch Relay in Northern Caucasus

On January 27, the Olympic Symbol arrived in Dagestan. First, 67 torchbearers ran for 6.7 km with the Olympic Flame, after which it was brought to the "Anji-Arena" Stadium. About 20,000 came to welcome the Olympic Flame. Students noted that they were sent to the event at the "Anji-Arena" as spectators. On January 27, the Olympic Torch Relay was also welcomed in Karachay-Cherkessia, where 10,000 people came to the stadium to welcome the relay.

On January 28, the Olympic Torch Relay arrived in Grozny. The centre of the Chechen capital was blocked by reinforced police and military units. Besides, employees of state institutions and students claimed that were forced to attend the festivities under compulsion. The route of the Olympic Torch Relay in Grozny was almost halved. According to the MIA, the relay passed quietly in Chechnya. On the same day, on January 28, in the city of Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, about 10,000 people came out to the main street of the city.

For security reasons the route of the Olympic Torch Relay in North Ossetia was shortened; and the ceremony took place at the "Spartak" Stadium. In the city centre motor traffic was limited; and the marketplaces were closed. By estimates of law enforcement bodies, over 17,000 people gathered at the stadium.

Because of bad weather, the authorities of Kabardino-Balkaria, where the Olympic Flame was brought on January 30, shortened the relay route through its territory. The youth of Nalchik welcomed the Winter Games symbol with a flash mob.

Aggravation of situation in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone

On January 27, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) said about the intensification of tension at the contact line. Charges of violating the ceasefire addressed to the armed forces of Azerbaijan were spread by the MoD of Armenia. According to the press service of the MoD of Nagorno-Karabakh, on January 28 a soldier was lost near the contact line in the conflict zone. James Warlick, the Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group from the United States, expressed his concern about the escalation of the conflict, accompanied by deaths.

Armenia should withdraw its troops from the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Elmar Mamedyarov, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan said on February 1. According to his version, Yerevan should take this step to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The situation on the frontline in Nagorno-Karabakh remains tense; however, the parties today are not ready to settle the conflict or to start any major warfare, experts from Armenia and Azerbaijan believe.

Dagestan: detention of suspects of aiding Volgograd suicide bombers

On January 29, two alleged accomplices of the perpetrators of the terror acts at the railway station on December 29, 2013, and in the bus on December 30, 2013, in Volgograd, brothers Magomednabi and Tagir Batirov, who, according to investigators, helped the suicide bombers to get to Volgograd.

The Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) said on January 30 that the initiators of the terror acts in Volgograd, killing 34 people and wounding more than 70, had been identified. According to the NAC, the suicide bombers were the Buynaksk militants Asker Samedov and Suleiman Magomedov. Earlier, the 23-year-old Asker Samedov, along with the 26-year-old Magomed Isaev, was called, by a source from law enforcement bodies, to be a possible organiser of the terror acts.