Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of October 30-November 5

Suicide bombing in Ingushetia; hostage taking in a kindergarten in the Armenian city of Armavir; assassination attempt on spouses Amina Okueva and Adam Osmaev committed near Kiev, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of October 30-November 5, 2017, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Suicide bombing at DPS block post in Ingushetia

On November 5, several militants attacked a block post near the village of Yandare in the Nazran District of Ingushetia. A suicide bomber activated a bomb in the building of the road-and-patrol (known as DPS) block post. According to the law enforcement bodies, the power of the bomb was 7-8 kg of TNT (trotyl) equivalent. Two policemen were killed. Accomplices of the suicide bomber initiated an armed clash with law enforcers. The National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) reported about two killed militants. The counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime was introduced in the Nazran District.

Re-election of Nalchik Mayor and dispersal of protesting city residents on eve of election

On November 1, in Nalchik, delegates elected Arsen Alakaev the head of the city administration. He has been holding the office since October 2015. On the eve of the election, in the city, activists planned to hold a sanctioned rally with the demand to allocate land plots to residents of the Volny Aul residential district for construction of houses. However, on that day, activist Aslan Iritov, one of the organizers of the rally, his brother's wife and daughter, according to their story, were beaten by law enforcers at home. After that residents of the Volny Aul residential district came to the Nalchik administration building with the demand to meet Arsen Alakaev. The people were dispersed by the police. The protesters reported about the detention of 12 people. One of them was arrested for five days. Aslan Iritov was fined for organizing an unsanctioned rally and was suspected of beating a policeman.

Hostage taking in a kindergarten in Armenian city of Armavir

On October 30, in the Armenian city of Armavir, a man with a knife captured the kindergarten "Manushak". He held a three-year-old child and several kindergarten employees hostage. The man wounded the kindergarten director and a teacher. After the negotiations, the police succeeded in freeing the child, while the man wounded himself during his detention. The assailant threatened to kill the child with the knife to take revenge on his former wife, who worked as a kindergarten teacher, by blackening her conscience with the child's death. This was reported by the kindergarten director. The father of the arrested assailant's former wife said that the man enjoyed drinking alcoholic beverages and playing in casinos. The kindergarten teacher's father has also added that his daughter had been earlier harassed by her former husband.

Assassination attempt on spouses Amina Okueva and Adam Osmaev near Kiev

On October 30, not far from Kiev, unidentified persons committed an assassination attempt on Amina Okueva, a member of the international social and political movement "Free Caucasus" in Ukraine, and her husband Adam Osmaev, a native of Chechnya, accused of plotting an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin. Adam Osmaev was wounded, and Amina Okueva was killed when their car was shelled. The police of Ukraine investigate the incident as a contract killing. Adam Osmaev saw a "Russian trace" in the murder of his wife. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has suggested that the death of the woman who fought in Donbas involves the secret services of the Russian Federation or supporters of the Chechen leader. In his turn, on November 1, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that the Ukrainian secret services were involved in the death of Amina Okueva. Meanwhile, journalist Orkhan Djemal and Caucasus expert Mikhail Roschin have told that the version about the Chechen trace in the Amina Okueva's murder cannot be ruled out. The secrecy of the Amina Okueva's funeral provoked the version that her death was staged, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported.

Southern Russia pays tribute to memory of political repression victims

On October 30, different cities of Russia, including in the south of the country, held mourning events on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions. In Vladikavkaz, about 300 people gathered at the rally near the monument "Stone of Tears". In Volgograd, 60 people came to the mourning event, during which activists voiced the idea to publish a book with the repressed people's memories. In Nalchik, participants of the rally found Betal Kalmykov, the first secretary of the local regional committee of the VKP(B) (All-Union Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in the 1930s, guilty of the genocide. In Astrakhan, participants of the action mentioned political prisoners of our time. In Stavropol, at the monument to victims of political repressions, activists laid down photos of the victims and the people executed in the early and mid-twentieth century.

Opening of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

On October 30, the solemn opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was held at the seaport in the village of Alyat, located 66 km south-west of Baku. The ceremony was attended by politicians from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia. The construction of the railway was started in November 2008. In 2009, it was interrupted because of negotiations on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. In May 2010, the construction was resumed. At the first stage, 5 million tons of cargo will be transported by the railroad annually; then it is planned to increase the volume up to 17 million tons. The new railway will reduce the time for transportation of goods by more than two times and will become an alternative to shipping across the sea, reported the spokesman for the Azerbaijani Railways.