In South Ossetia, the legislation does not provide for any punishments for LGBT* propaganda; and the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has demanded that parliament regulate the law enforcers' work.

Inna Tishkina from Krasnodar apologized for her posts on the X social networking service which were “discrediting the Russian Army.” The reason for the attention to the resident of Krasnodar was an appeal to the law enforcement and related bodies by MP Sergey Klimov, who demanded an apology from Ramzan Kadyrov.

In the Krasnodar Territory, the police detained Dmitry Mladov, a Jehovah’s Witness* from Novorossiysk. The detainee was transported to an IVS (temporary detention facility) in the Moscow Region.

An Embraer 190 aircraft flying on the Baku-Grozny route crashed near Aktau due to physical and technical external interference, Azerbaijan Airlines said, citing data from a preliminary investigation.

Oksana Osadchaya held a solo picket in the city of Ramenskoye in support of Zarema Musaeva, who was arrested in Chechnya in a new criminal case. The solo picket attracted the attention of passers-by and law enforcers.

Secretary of the Chechen Security Council Khamzat Kadyrov has posted on a social networking service a video of the destruction of a drone. The Chechen official has also added that all the drones launched today to attack the republic had been shot down.

The withdrawal of the fatwa on polygamy does not cancel the fact that it is enshrined in the Koran; while its main purpose is to clarify the procedure and responsibility for concluding a religious marriage, a representative of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) and an Islamic scholar believe.

The state prosecutor has demanded seven years and seven months of imprisonment for Alexei Schus, a Sochi engineer, accused of spreading fake news about the Russian Army and of manufacturing weapons.

The creation of the “Centre for Assistance to International Protection” organization 30 years ago was an important event for the development of human rights protection in Russia, and the “Centre” itself won hundreds of cases in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) when defending people whose rights were violated.

In Georgia, law enforcers brutally beat protesters, and criminal cases are being instituted against activists on formal grounds.

A public prosecutor requested six and a half years of imprisonment for Aleksei Pasynkov, a Jehovah’s Witness* from Karachay-Cherkessia, in a case on organizing extremist activity. Criminal cases have also been instituted against a wife and a mother of Aleksei Pasynkov, the “OVD-Info”* human rights project reports.

The vehicle gas cylinder equipment (GCE) often breaks down and poses a danger, experts said after reports of checks on Chechen roads. Drivers linked the raids with the fight against car window tinting; and GCE checks are conducted in parallel.

The Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has made a submission to the Chairman of the Russia Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) on the need to eliminate violations of the law in connection with the fatwa on the permissibility of polygamy. Citing this submission and the reaction of the public, the SAM has revoked the fatwa.

In the city of Urus-Martan, law enforcers conducted searches in the empty houses of Musa Vatsuev and Lecha Elmurzaev, who left Chechnya long ago. Both natives of the republic treat such law enforcers' attention as unexpected.

Activists demanding to hold repeated parliamentary elections and release those detained at protest actions have organized a motorcycle rally through the streets of Tbilisi.

The Russian Embassy has called on to find and punish the persons responsible for the murder of a heavy truck driver from Dagestan, who was found shot dead in Iran.

Pollution in Anapa, protests and two presidents in Georgia, drone attacks, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, victims of the energy crisis in Abkhazia, and official data on the natives of Southern Russia who perished in Ukraine, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of December 16-22, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Researchers have found out how men who are in areas at risk of conscription and mobilization into the Russian Army, but would not take part in military operations, choose their life strategies. They have also compared the motives and methods of action of residents of Russian central regions with those in Northern Caucasus.