Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of July 10-16, 2023

Attack on Milashina and Nemov in Chechnya, assassination of Rzhitsky, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, flooding in Tuapse, blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, 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 July 10-16. 2023, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Attack on Milashina and Nemov in Chechnya

On July 12, Elena Milashina, a journalist of the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, and advocate Alexander Nemov, who had been attacked in Grozny, were discharged from the hospital under medical supervision.

Two days later, an investigator from Chechnya questioned Elena Milashina in the criminal case on the attack. Georgy Ivanov, a lawyer for the Moscow branch of the “Team Against Torture” (TaT)*, filed motions to inspect the place of the incident and provide state protection for Elena Milashina so that she could participate in investigative actions in Grozny.

Human rights defenders believe that the Chechen law enforcement bodies were involved in the attack on Elena Milashina and Alexander Nemov.

Assassination of Rzhitsky

On July 10, Stanislav Rzhitsky, the deputy head of the department for mobilization activity of the Mayoralty, was assassinated in Krasnodar. An unidentified man shot and killed Stanislav Rzhitsky while he was jogging. On the other day, the police detained Sergey Denisenko and confiscated a pistol from him. The Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) released a video in which Sergey Denisenko pleaded guilty to the assassination of Stanislav Rzhitsky.

Killing Stanislav Rzhitsky, who was moving around without body guards, required no special skills, but motivation, military experts emphasized. According to them, Sergey Denisenko could confess to the murder because of financial or psychological factors.

Persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia

On July 14, it became known that in Novorossiysk, a court fined local resident Pavel Tkachenko because of a picture with the image of the flag of the legion “Freedom of Russia”**, which he posted on the social media.

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Stavropol fined Rasim Gamidov. According to the investigators’ version, the man posted a comment on the social media criticizing the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine.

Criminal investigation officers visited Roman Melnichenko, the former Associate Professor of the Department of Law at the Volgograd State University, as part of an investigation under the administrative article about discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. The investigation officers showed printouts of several posts in a Roman Melnichenko’s group on the social media and asked him about the use of the words “prisoners of war,” as well as the reason for recording some of the videos in Ukrainian. According to him, Roman Melnichenko warned the police officers about the responsibility because of putting pressure on him for the use of his native Ukrainian language.

On July 13, a criminal case was instituted against Batyr Zhaboev, a resident of Nalchik, for discrediting the Russian Armed Forces because of the video posted on Instagram***. According to the investigators’ version, Batyr Zhaboev posted a video about the losses among civilians during the Chechen military campaigns and the special military operation in Ukraine. Batyr Zhaboev signed a recognizance not to leave the city.

Flooding in Tuapse

On July 9, heavy rains and wind hit Sochi. Streams of water took away more than a dozen cars and flooded several residential buildings. Local residents mentioned the unsystematic urbanization of the city as the cause of the flooding. On July 10, the number of evacuees increased to 240, and the state of emergency was announced in the region. Residents of the Mirny village laid the blame for the flooding on officials. As of July 11, 600 people were evacuated to Sochi.

After heavy rains hit the Tuapse Region on July 11-12, rivers overflew their banks, five persons were declared dead. The search for a missing young woman is underway.

Blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh

“The deliberate and total ban on the transportation of food products and essential goods, imposed by Azerbaijan since June 15, threatens the lives of 120,000 residents of Artsakh. Azerbaijan has also blocked the transportation of patients and medicines by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),” Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson Gegam Stepanyan stated on July 16. The information headquarters of the unrecognized republic’s government confirmed that since June 15, Nagorno-Karabakh does not receive fuel, food products, and other essential goods.

Commanders of the Russian peacekeepers called for an immediate solution to the problem of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until action is taken, a round-the-clock protest will be taking place in Stepanakert and in front of the peacekeepers’ base, Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan announced on July 14. President of Nagorno-Karabakh Araik Arutyunyan sent letters to the leaders of all member states of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the President of the European Council, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CE), as well as the Prime Minister of Armenia, with the request to adhere to international obligations and to take urgent steps to ending the illegal blockade of Karabakh by Azerbaijan.

Suspension of General Popov

On July 13, Major General Ivan Popov, Commander of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District, announced that he was removed from his post after he had reported to his superiors about the problem with counter-battery combat and the absence of an artillery reconnaissance station, as well as the mass death of Russian militaries. State Duma member Andrei Gurulyov, the former deputy commander of the Southern Military District, posted on his Telegram channel the Major General Popov’s appeal.

Official data on natives of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine

Roman Ryazantsev, Evgeny Muravsky, Evgeny Pugach, Vladimir Filippov, Andrei Stavinsky, Vladimir Gorbachev, Dmitry Ovchinnik, and Aleksei Svistelnikov perished in Ukraine, the authorities announced. Since the beginning of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, the information about at least 165 fighters from the Krasnodar Territory has been officially confirmed. In total, by July 16, the authorities and the law enforcement bodies reported about at least 2249 residents of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine, including 1199 residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and 1050 residents of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

In Dagestan, the authorities reported about 571 local residents perished in Ukraine, in the Volgograd Region – 425, in the Rostov Region – 243, in North Ossetia – 197, in the Stavropol Territory – 158, in the Astrakhan Region – 160, in Chechnya – 117, in Kabardino-Balkaria – 97, in Ingushetia – 38, in Adygea – 30, in Kalmykia – 24, and in Karachay-Cherkessia – 21.

*The “Team against Torture” (formerly the “Committee against Torture” – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.

**The organization is recognized as terrorist, and its activities are banned in the territory of Russia.

***On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.