Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of November 4-10, 2024

Change of power in the Rostov Region, drone attacks, echo of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, explosion in Pyatigorsk, Rabadanov’s arrest, 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 November 4-10, 2024, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Change of power in Rostov Region

On November 4, Vasily Golubev, Governor of the Rostov Region, announced his resignation in connection with the transfer to another job. Yuri Slyusar has been appointed acting governor. The election of the head of the Rostov Region is scheduled for September 14, 2025.

After fourteen years as the Governor of the Rostov Region, Vasily Golubev left the region with a lot of social and environmental problems that the new head of the region will have to solve, but there were also economic successes, believe Rostov-on-Don City Duma member Natalia Oskina, political analyst Dmitry Abrosimov, and Natalia Zubarevich, Professor of the Department of the Russia’s Economic and Social Geography at the Geography Faculty of the Moscow State University (known as MSU), interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Drone attacks

On the night of November 10, according to the information release by acting governor of the Rostov Region Yuri Slyusar, there was an attempt of a drone attack on the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. Three drones were neutralized. There were no casualties or injuries.

On November 6, residents of Kaspiysk reported that a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)) exploded over the city in the morning. Dagestani leader Sergey Melikov confirmed that the Russian air defence forces destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle over the city. A 16-year-old girl was injured by fragments from an UAV which fell down.

Kaspiysk City Mayor Boris Gontsov announced a number of restrictions introduced in connection with the drone attack, including street lights to be turned off at night and six kindergartens and a naval cadet boarding school to be closed.

Residents of Kaspiysk reacted differently to the authorities’ initiative to introduce restrictions in the city. The suspension of six kindergartens created problems for parents, while the authorities did not mention the period for which children would not be able to attend kindergartens.

The likelihood of frequent drone attacks in the regions of Northern Caucasus is low, since these regions are located far from the front line, and organizing such drone attacks is extremely difficult, suggest military expert Vasily Dandykin, military expert Alexander Khramchikhin, and military political analyst Andrei Koshkin.

Echo of parliamentary elections in Georgia

In Georgia, the parliamentary elections were held on October 26. The opposition refused to recognize the election results and announced the intention to boycott the activity of the country’s parliament. President Salome Zurabishvili also refused to recognize the election results.

The “My Vote” monitoring mission requested the Georgian prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation with regard to the heads of the Central Election Commission (CEC). The above was announced by Londa Toloraya, a spokesperson for the “My Vote” monitoring mission. The activist believes that the large-scale falsification scheme could not been carried out without the participation of the CEC heads, whose actions can be qualified under the article on official negligence or abuse of office.

On November 4, a march was held in Tbilisi with a demand to annul the parliamentary election results and hold repeat elections. About a thousand people took part in the march. In their hands, the marchers were holding posters and flags of Georgia and the European Union. The protesters voiced several demands to the authorities: to call repeat elections to parliament, not to recognize the election results and the legitimacy of parliament, and to collect necessary documents for an international investigation into the elections and punishment of all those responsible. The activists also promised that their protests would continue “until victory,” the “Mtavari Arkhi” TV Channel reports.

Following a complaint lodged by the Georgian “Young Lawyers’ Association” NGO, the Tetritskaro District Court recognized invalid the final voting protocols from thirty polling stations in the Tsalka and Tetritskaro Districts. In Gori, a court granted the claim filed by the “Fair Elections” (ISFED) NGO and obliged the election commission to recount the ballots at fifteen polling stations. At the same time, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal cancelled the decision of the Tetritskaro District Court, which recognized the violation of the secrecy of the voting during the parliamentary elections, and did not grant the claims lodged by observers. In Kutaisi, a court also dismissed all claims filed by the “My Vote” monitoring mission.

As of November 8, the Georgia’s election commissions had received over a thousand complaints about violations. Out of the total number of the complaints, 167 were fully or partially granted. And the Kutaisi City Mayoralty did not renew the contract with designer Tsotne Tvaradze, whose voting data became known to an observer from the “Georgian Dream” Party. Tsotne Tvaradze intends to challenge the Kutaisi City Mayoralty’s decision.

On November 9, members of opposition parties and their supporters held two marches along the streets of Tbilisi with the demand to cancel the results of the parliamentary elections.

Explosion in Pyatigorsk

One person was killed and three others were injured in a gas explosion which occurred in a nine-storey building in Pyatigorsk. Twenty-two apartments were damaged, and tenants were evacuated. The explosion occurred on November 9, after which a fire broke out, the Department for the Stavropol Territory of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) reported.

Rabadanov’s arrest

Ramazan Rabadanov is a well-known Dagestani sports commentator, businessman, and blogger. Since 2023, he has been organizing legal and informational assistance to defendants in the case on riots at the Makhachkala airport.

Shamil Khadulaev, the head of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) of Dagestan, reported that Ramazan Rabadanov intended to leave for the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories to attend trials in the case on riots at the “Uytash” airport in Makhachkala. However, the activist was detained in Makhachkala on November 6. Ramazan Rabadanov claimed that someone approached him and planted a grenade to his jacket’s pocket.

On his Telegram channel, Shamil Khadulaev has posted a video message which was recorded by a Ramazan Rabadanov’s son, who is participating in the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. “He always told only the truth. Apparently, someone did not like this truth,” stated the Ramazan Rabadanov’s son in his video message. The military man appealed to the Russian President and asked him to take control over the situation.

The head of the Dagestani Public Oversight Commission noted that during the day of November 7, he received “more than two hundred calls,” because “the entire public of Dagestan was outraged by the news of the detention” of Ramazan Rabadanov, since he is “a very respected person in Dagestan.” Lawyer from Makhachkala Arsen Magomedov, an activist of the “Gorod Nasz” (City is Ours) movement, also criticized the law enforcement bodies in connection with the Ramazan Rabadanov’s arrest. “It is unacceptable that in a democratic country, grenades can be planted to people, especially such important activists,” wrote the lawyer from Makhachkala on his Telegram channel.

Nevertheless, in Makhachkala, a court arrested Ramazan Rabadanov until January 7 (for two months) in a case on illegal arms trafficking.

Official data on natives of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine

By November 10, the authorities and the law enforcement bodies reported about at least 5253 residents of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine, including 2517 residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and 2736 residents of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

In Dagestan, the authorities reported about 1097 local residents perished in Ukraine, in the Volgograd Region – 984, in the Rostov Region – 592, in the Krasnodar Territory – 587, in the Stavropol Territory – 530, in the Astrakhan Region – 408, in North Ossetia – 319, in Chechnya – 214, in Kabardino-Balkaria – 180, in Kalmykia – 100, in Ingushetia – 94, in Karachay-Cherkessia – 83, and in Adygea – 65.