Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of September 2-8, 2024

Elections in Southern Russia, fires and drones in the Caucasus, victory of the ruling party in Azerbaijan, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, armed conflict in Northern Caucasus, 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 September 2-8, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Elections in Southern Russia

In Ingushetia, MPs have held a secret voting for the candidacy of the republic’s leader, the government of Ingushetia reports in its Telegram channel. “Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov has been elected to the post of the leader of the Republic of Ingushetia by a majority of votes,” the Ingush Cabinet of Minister reports.

According to the information released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia, following the processing of the first protocols, Batu Khasikov, the current head of Kalmykia, a member of the “Edinaya Rossiya” (United Russia) Party, is gaining 82.17% of the votes. Mikhail Namruev, a candidate from the “Communist Party of the Russian Federation” (CPRF), a former adviser to the chairman of the Government of Kalmykia, is gaining 7.35%, Aysa Bayanova from the regional branch of the “Novye Lyudi” (New People) Party is getting 5.85%, and Yuri Khruschev, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), is in the last place with 2.95% of the votes.

After 10.23% of the protocols have been processed, Vladimir Vladimirov, nominated by the “Edinaya Rossiya” (United Russia) Party, is gaining 80.95% of the votes at the election of the Stavropol Territory Governor. At the same time, Viktor Goncharov, a candidate from the “Communist Party of the Russian Federation” (CPRF), First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of the Stavropol Territory, is gaining 8.97%, and Alexander Kuzmin, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of the Stavropol Territory, a member of the “Spravedlivaya Rossiya” (Fair Russia)-“Patrioty” (Patriots)- “Za Pravdu” (For Truth) Party, is gaining 3.91%.

After 0.69% of the protocols have been processed, Igor Babushkin, the current Governor of the Astrakhan Region, a candidate from the “Edinaya Rossiya” (United Russia) Party, is leading in the election for the head of the region with 85.89% of the votes. The second place goes to Sergey Sevastyanov, a candidate from the “Communist Party of the Russian Federation” (CPRF), who is gaining 4.39%. The third place goes to Vladimir Sukharev from the “Rodina” (Motherland) Party with 3.76%. The fourth place goes to Vitaly Bakhilin from the “Novye Lyudi” (New People) Party with 3.45%, and the fifth place goes to Timofey Scherbakov, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), with 2.51%.

Observers and party members have been filing complaints about election violations in various regions of Southern Russia. In particular, on September 7, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) complained about the removal of its observer from a polling station in Bataysk. Voters from the Stavropol Territory and Kuban reported being forced to vote.

Fires and drones in the Caucasus

The past week was relatively “quiet” in terms of drone attacks. Only in Novorossiysk was an attack by boats recorded on September 5. There is no danger to residents, City Mayor Andrei Kravchenko reports in his Telegram channel.

On August 28, a drone attack caused a fire at a fuel depot in the Kamensky District of the Rostov Region. The head of the district assured that there was no threat of the fire spreading to residential buildings, but announced a high alert regime.

A week later, rescuers localized a fire at an oil depot in the, which caught fire after a drone attack, Vladimir Savin, the head of the Kamensky District, reported on September 4.

On the night of August 18, fuel caught fire at warehouses in Proletarsk when drone fragments fell down. A state of emergency was announced in the city. Forty-seven people were injured while the fire was being extinguished. On September 2, it became known that the fire had been extinguished. At the same time, local residents claimed that they could still smell the burning and it was hard to breathe.

Victory of the ruling party in Azerbaijan

On September 1, Azerbaijan held parliamentary elections. Self-nominated candidates and representatives of 25 parties, including two opposition parties, participated in the elections. The opposition claimed falsifications and refused to recognize the voting results. European observers assessed the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan as devoid of real competition.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan declared the elections valid. According to the preliminary information, the “Yeni Azerbaijan” (New Azerbaijan) Party will receive 68 of 125 seats in the country’s parliament, and independent candidates will receive more than 40 mandates in the new parliament. The remaining seats will be taken by representatives of 10 opposition parties.

According to the analysts’ report, the parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan for the first time in the absence of independent local observation institutions, which undermined the already weak trust in the electoral process and ensured an extremely low turnout at the elections. Experts believe that the real turnout was several times lower than the official reports announced. The experts explained the weak interest of voters in the parliamentary elections by the lack of competition among candidates and the loss of trust in both the fairness of the elections and the government itself.

Persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia

On September 6, it became known that former Volgograd State University lecturer Roman Melnichenko was arrested for three days on the charges of failure to obey the police and fined 30,000 roubles under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces.

Kevin Lik, a citizen of Germany and Russia, was sentenced to four years of imprisonment on the charges of high treason on December 28, 2023. On August 1, Kevin Lik and fifteen other convicts were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Western countries. Kevin Lik said that he was suddenly transferred from a penal colony to an airport to participate in the prisoner exchange, and before that, law enforcers offered him to write a petition for pardon.

On August 9, Kevin Lik requested a certificate of no criminal record from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) in connection with the presidential pardon. “There is no information about the release,” states the document he got. “If there is no information about my release, then I have practically ‘escaped’ from prison,” Kevin Leak wrote in his Telegram channel.

The administration of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Kazan has put Askhabali Alibekov on preventive watch as “a person disseminating extremist ideology.”

Armed conflict in Northern Caucasus

On September 3, a man with a screwdriver attacked inspectors of a road-and-patrol police service (known as DPS) checkpoint at the entrance to Magas. A policeman was wounded, and the attacker was killed.

Lone militants use the element of surprise to attack law enforcers. However, the use of improvised means in the attack on the DPS checkpoint in Magas proved the weakening of the armed underground, suggest military experts and an expert for the Caucasus.

Official data on natives of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine

By September 8, the authorities and the law enforcement bodies reported about at least 4840 residents of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine, including 2312 residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and 2528 residents of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

In Dagestan, the authorities reported about 993 local residents perished in Ukraine, in the Volgograd Region – 923, in the Krasnodar Territory – 547, in the Rostov Region – 539, in the Stavropol Territory – 477, in the Astrakhan Region – 369, in North Ossetia – 306, in Chechnya – 208, in Kabardino-Balkaria – 162, in Kalmykia – 90, in Ingushetia – 86, in Karachay-Cherkessia – 80, and in Adygea – 60.