In order to receive the payment promised by the leader of Chechnya for naming newborns after national heroes, pregnant women could resort to labour stimulation or caesarean section, as well as manipulation of the birth date. The abnormal number of boys born on December 31 confirms the above assumptions, analysts believe.

In Chechnya, people are forced to sign contracts, while law enforcers may set up a so-called "exchange fund" of volunteers from other regions who have arrived in the republic and will sign contracts (with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD)) instead of local residents, human rights defenders believe.

The chief of the penal colony in Uryupinsk did not allow human rights defender Valentin Bogdan, who defends his colleague, to visit Igor Nagavkin. Valentin Bogdan called the actions of the penal colony chief unlawful and lodged a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.

The “Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association” (GYLA) non-governmental organization (NGO) has called the arrest of Mziya Amaglobeli, the founder of the “Netgazeti” and “Batumelebi” online publications, politically motivated.

The Sochi Court of Appeal has scheduled a hearing on the appeal complaint against Nikita Zhuravel's verdict in the treason case for February 18, 2025, the BFM (Russian Business FM News) has reported.

Volunteers from all over Russia who have arrived in Chechnya to sign military contracts have complained that they are kept locked up for weeks in order to be sent to the combat zone instead of the local residents who had paid their way out of service.

A court in Rostov-on-Don has fined Rostislav Pavlischev by 10,000 roubles, after treating his post placed in a social network as participation in the activities of an undesirable organization. This was reported by the human rights project "OVD-Info"*.

Investigators and prosecutors have questioned the military, who had complained that he was discharged from a hospital in Chechnya, although he failed to receive the proper treatment. According to lawyers, doctors had violated his rights.

In 2024, Azerbaijan saw increased repressions against journalists, human rights defenders and believers; and the number of political prisoners increased sharply. The police began using harsher measures in conducting repressions.

Bogdan Abdurakhmanov and Boris Goncharenko did not agree with the classification of the case and asked the court to impose a fair sentence in the case on the arson of the military registration and enlistment office in the city of Goryachy Klyuch. The verdict, according to which Boris Goncharenko was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment, will be challenged.

Ramzan Kadyrov instructed the republic’s authorities to pay 500,000 roubles to parents of each boy born on December 31 and named in honour of national heroes. At the same time, it turned out that on the day of the action, four times more boys were unexpectedly born in the republic than on other days.

The Amnesty International (AI) human rights organization has stated that all those detained in Georgia for peacefully exercising their rights to the freedom of speech and assembly must be immediately released.

Karabakh nongovernmental organization (NGOs) and the "Dashnaktsutyun" Party have appealed to Armenian authorities and the international community with a demand to protect the rights of the Armenian prisoners of war kept in Azerbaijan and take measures for the release of them.

In Krasnodar, a court fined local resident Inna Tishkina three times, finding her guilty in three cases on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.

Three out of the ten people detained at the protest action in Batumi demanded an investigation into the law enforcers’ actions, and one of the detainees claimed being beaten. A criminal case has been instituted against Mziya Amaglobeli, the founder of the “Batumelebi” and “Netgazeti” online publications for attacking a police officer.

The ban on car window tinting in Chechnya fails to cover the head of the republic himself and his close associates, commentators have pointed out.

Zaira Pirova’s escape, pollution in Anapa, drone attacks, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, protests in Georgia, 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 January 6-12, 2025, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The charge of treason brought against Igbal Abilov, a Talysh researcher, looks unconvincing and has become another episode in the prosecution practice of activists from Azerbaijani national minorities.

Elena Patyaeva has sent her complaints to the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) about the inaction of the investigators who deal with the disappearance case of her girlfriend, Seda Suleimanova.

The harsh rhetoric by the Azeri President, Ilham Aliev, against Russia after the AZAL plane crash will test mutual relations, but is unlikely to lead to any serious deterioration of them.