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Balkar activist fined for offensive content about Circassians

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14h

The Nalchik City Court has found Balkar activist Khadis Tetuev guilty of inciting hatred and enmity on ethnic grounds against Circassians.

A linguistic examination found elements of incitement to ethnic hatred in Balkar activist Khadis Tetuev’s work.

Bank of Russia cancels vote for new ₽500 banknote featuring North Caucasus locales

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 14h

The Bank of Russia has announced it was cancelling the public vote to choose the symbols for the new ₽500 ($6) banknote, citing ‘a large number of attempts to artificially increase the number of votes for certain sites’.

oc-media.org/bank-of-russ...

Chechen authorities, led by Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov, accused the Central Bank of supporting nationalists.

Yerevan’s Nubarashen dumpsite burns again, worsening city’s already poor air quality

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 15h

The Nubarashen landfill, Yerevan’s largest and oldest municipal waste site, has once again caught fire, forcing emergency crews into intensive containment efforts.

The toxic fire coincided with the celebrations of Yerevan’s 2,807th anniversary.

Nobel Prize winner Daron Acemoglu joins Samvel Karapetyan against Pashinyan

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 15h

Nobel laureate and prominent economist Daron Acemoglu has agreed to serve as an adviser to Our Way, the political movement founded by detained Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan.

Daron Acemoglu will join jailed mogul Samvel Karapetyan’s political movement as an economic advisor.

From noxious fumes to empty pledges: Yerevan’s long struggle with its ‘toxic bomb’ dumpsite

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

A fire has broken out again at the Nubarashen landfill.

🔺 Established in the 1950s without a permit, Nubarashen is Armenia’s largest open-air dump, receiving nearly all of Yerevan’s municipal waste.

Despite new plans to replace the country’s largest open-air dump with a modern waste processing plant, experts and locals remain unconvinced.

Chechen businessperson criticises sending drug and alcohol users to fight in Ukraine

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

The opposition Telegram channel NIYSO has published a fragment of a livestream by Yug-Neft oil company beneficiary Aslanbek Akhmetkhanov, in which he sharply criticises the principles used to select ‘volunteers’ for the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Aslanbek Akhmetkhanov instead called for ‘specialists and true warriors’ to be sent to the frontlines.

Georgian security services arrest former senior prison official for ‘staging’ Bachiashvili beating

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) has arrested a former senior prison official, accusing him of taking part in an alleged plot to stage the prison beating of prominent government critic Giorgi Bachiashvili.

The arrest came just a day after another former official implicated in the investigation was found dead in a purported suicide.

Explainer | Have Russia and Azerbaijan buried the hatchet?

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

➡️ Explainer | Have Russia and Azerbaijan buried the hatchet?

⭕ After almost a year of traded barbs, insults, and even threats of military action, the tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia appear to have been put to rest overnight.

Azerbaijan and Russia have been at odds since the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in December 2024, which Baku has blamed on Russian air-defence missiles.

Former human rights defender Tatoyan to challenge Pashinyan in 2026 elections

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

Following his recent re-entry into politics, Armenia’s former human rights defender Arman Tatoyan has officially announced that his newly formed political movement Wings of Unity will contest the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Former human rights defender Arman Tatoyan is intending to run against Pashinyan with his new political movement Wings of Unity.

Tbilisi City Hall vows to ‘rehabilitate’ protest stronghold Rustaveli Avenue in 2026

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has announced intentions to rehabilitate the central Rustaveli Avenue after the upcoming New Year’s celebrations. The avenue has been the centre of daily anti-government protests, which have continued for over 300 days.

The rehabilitation of Tbilisi’s central avenue has been postponed several times.

Georgian comms regulator moves to block funding from TV Formula

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

The Georgian National Communications Commission has issued written warnings to TV Formula and its parent company Formula Multimedia, ordering them to cease receiving funding from a Cyprus-based company owned by the channel’s founder, Davit Kezerashvili.

It is the first time a public warning has been issued to Georgian media related to foreign funding.

Outrage as 71-year-old Georgian paediatrician among latest detainees following 4 October protests

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

The Georgian police have detained nine more people in connection with the 4 October anti-government protest in Tbilisi, bringing the official number of detainees in the case to 45. Among those arrested is a 71-year-old paediatrician.

The total number of detainees following 4 October has now exceeded 40.

Two natives of Ingushetia to stand trial over killing of Russian General Kirillov

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 3d

Seven journalists icluading Mzia Amaghobeli from Georgia, have been named the 2025 IPI-IMS World Press Freedom Heroes for their exceptional courage and resilience in the fight for free media.

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Two natives of Ingushetia are set to stand trial as participants in the killing of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the Head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces.

According to investigators, Ramazan Padiev and Batukhan Tochiev rented a flat for the direct perpetrator of the killing.

Georgian poet Zviad Ratiani sentenced to two years for ‘slapping a police officer’

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Georgian poet Zviad Ratiani has been sentenced to two years in prison on charges of slapping a police officer during a protest.

Like journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, the court downgraded Ratiani’s charges in a last minute decision ahead of sentencing.

Putin admits fault for deadly plane crash to Aliyev in awkward press conference

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly apologised for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crash in December 2024, acknowledging that the incident, which claimed the lives of 38 people, had been caused by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.

Putin nonetheless partially cast the blame on Ukrainian drones entering Russian airspace at the time.

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Several Polish border guards were attacked by assailants in Tbilisi, resulting in two of them being hospitalised with severe injuries and requiring surgery. The guards were reportedly attacked with metal rods and knives.

🔗 Read more: oc-media.org/polish-borde...

New district named after Putin opens in Grozny

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

The first section of a new Grozny district named after Russian President Vladimir Putin has been opened. Chechen Head Kadyrov and Russian Deputy Prime Minister attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday, which coincided with Putin’s birthday.

Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak attended the district’s opening ceremony.

Opinion | 4 October: an unsuccessful uprising or a trap for Georgian democracy?

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

⭕ OPINION: Whatever the truth of the 4 October events, they have given Georgian Dream the perfect pretext to finish its repressive crackdown.

Whatever the truth of the 4 October events, they have given Georgian Dream the perfect pretext to finish its repressive crackdown.

Armenia softens income declaration regulations after public backlash

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has raised eyebrows after comparing ‘EU bureaucracy’ to the infamous Nazi Germany propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

➡️ Read more: oc-media.org/kobakhidze-c...

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

The Armenian government has moved to significantly ease its universal income declaration system amidst mounting criticism and confusion surrounding reforms that were set to take effect on 1 November.

Reforms introducing a mandatory universal income declaration system were set to take effect from 1 November.

Ingush physicist sentenced to 18 years in prison over $15 donation to pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters

OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

The Second Western District Military Court has upheld a treason sentence against Ingush physicist Ruslan Shadiev, who donated around $15 to pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters. He has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Ruslan Shadiev was found guilty of treason for transferring money to organisations banned in Russia.

Georgian authorities detain 13 more in connection to 4 October

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

Georgia’s Interior Ministry has announced the arrest of 13 more individuals in connection with the 4 October anti-government protest in Tbilisi, bringing the official number of detainees in the case to 36.

The total number of detainees following Saturday’s events has reached 36.

Armenia releases Georgian volunteer fighter wanted by Russia

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OC Media @ocmedia.bsky.social · 4d

A Georgian volunteer fighter in Ukraine declared wanted by Russia has been released from custody in Armenia, after a court ruled his extradition to Russia would put his life at risk.

Armenia denied a request from a court in Russian-occupied Ukraine to extradite Georgian volunteer fighter Giorgi Kinoiani.