Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of February 17-23, 2025

Memorial events in memory of the victims of deportation, presidential election in Abkhazia, drone attacks, persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia, pollution in Anapa, 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 February 17-23, 2025, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Memorial events in memory of victims of deportation

The day of February 23 marked 81 years since the beginning of the Stalin era deportation of the Vainakhs. In Ingushetia, a memorial rally was organized in memory of the victims of deportation. In Chechnya, Prime Minister Magomed Daudov voiced a demand to return housing in the former Aukhovsky District of Dagestan to descendants of the repressed people. A rally was also held in the Novolaksky District of Dagestan.

Presidential election in Abkhazia

In November 2024, protests against the investment agreement with Russia began in Abkhazia. As a result, President Aslan Bzhaniya resigned and left Abkhazia. After negotiations between the government and the opposition, the duties of the president were temporarily assigned to Vice President Badra Gunba. On November 28, 2024, the Parliament of Abkhazia scheduled an early presidential election for February 15, 2025. The date of the second round of the presidential election was scheduled by the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Abkhazia for March 1.

Adgur Ardzinba won 36,476 votes, Robert Arshba – 7434, Oleg Bartsits – 3988, Badra Gunba – 45,817, and Adgur Khurhumal – 896 votes.

Adgur Ardzinba and Badra Gunba pledged not to use black PR steps and not to allow calls for violent actions. They emphasized their willingness to accept the results of the second round of the presidential election if it is held in accordance with the law of Abkhazia.

On February 17, supporters of Badra Gunba gathered in Sukhumi and demanded an explanation from the authorities concerning the reasons for the resignation of Dmitry Kuchuberiya, the head of the State Security Service. The Badra Gunba’s claims about the failure of acting President Valery Bganba to comply with the agreement between the government and the opposition will not be the beginning of a constitutional crisis, since all parties are interested in holding a second round of the presidential election, analysts believe. The situation is likely to worsen after the voting.

Road repairs in Sukhumi, which began several days before the second round of the presidential elections, are a use of administrative resources and contradict the agreement signed by the candidates, the Adgur Ardzinba’s headquarters has complained. The Sukhumi City Mayoralty has objected that the road repair plan was drawn up several months ago.

Drone attacks

On the night of February 17, the territory of the Krasnodar Territory was subjected to a massive UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack, Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Veniamin Kondratyev reported on his Telegram channel. According to the preliminary information, after the fall of UAV’s fragments in the village of Ilsky in the Seversky District, twelve houses were damaged, Veniamin Kondratyev reported. “Mostly windows were shattered. One woman was injured, and she received first aid,” Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on his Telegram channel.

That night, 45 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down over the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, 26 others were neutralized over the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported on its Telegram channel.

As a result of a drone attack in the Severskaya and Slavyansk-on-Kuban Districts of the Krasnodar Territory, more than twenty private houses were damaged, the regional operational headquarters reported.

The drone attack targeted the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station (OPS) in the Kavkazsky District of the Krasnodar Territory, a facility of the “Caspian Pipeline Consortium” (CPC). The Kropotkinskaya OPS has been decommissioned.

The police detained a 17-year-old resident of Volgograd who filmed the UAV attack and posted the video with comments on the Internet. The video showed drone fragments falling on the roof of an apartment building, the “V102.RU” Telegram channel reports with reference to the law enforcement bodies. The teenager apologized in front of the camera for his act.

In Slavyansk-on-Kuban, there were no alarms or SMS alerts during the drone attack, which prevented people from taking shelter in due time, local residents claimed.

Persecution of pacifists and activists in Southern Russia

In Magas, a court fined local resident Ilez Pliev 15,000 roubles, recognizing that his comment on a social networking service about the special military operation (SMO) discredited the Russian Armed Forces. In his comment, Ilez Pliev expressed his regret that young soldiers perished in combat operations and wondered why they were sent to the SMO zone.

Guram Khulelidze, a resident of Vladikavkaz, posted an entry on the “VKontakte” social networking service, the content of which the law enforcement bodies considered discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, reports the official website of the Soviet District Court of Vladikavkaz. The court fined Guram Khulelidze 30,000 roubles.

The Promyshlenny District Court of Stavropol fined local resident Maxim Panchenko 30,000 roubles. According to the court’s version, Maxim Panchenko behaved inappropriately in a bar, pestering visitors and staff, and shouting pro-Ukrainian slogans.

Pollution in Anapa

On December 15, two tankers crashed in the Kerch Strait because of a storm, resulting in an oil spill. On December 18, it became known that about 50 kilometres of beaches from Anapa to Temryuk had been polluted with fuel oil, and volunteers organized the rescue of birds stained with oil products.

Most of the humanitarian aid sent burned during a fire in Anapa, and volunteers faced the problem of cooking and the lack of space for a headquarters. Volunteers involved in cleaning up the fuel oil and rescuing birds managed to save some of the things and humanitarian aid from the fire.

New fuel oil spills were discovered in the coastal strip near Cape Panagia, and specialists from the Marine Rescue Service are involved in neutralizing them, the Kuban operational headquarters reports on its Telegram channel. On the other morning, monitoring groups discovered minor fuel oil drops in several areas of the Anapa coast. A day later, small volumes of fuel oil spills and oil-contaminated shells were discovered on the beach in Dzhemete.

Official data on natives of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine

By February 23, the authorities and the law enforcement bodies reported about at least 5954 residents of Southern Russia perished in Ukraine, including 2888 residents of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and 3066 residents of the Southern Federal District (SFD).

In Dagestan, the authorities reported about 1264 local residents perished in Ukraine, in the Volgograd Region – 1129, in the Krasnodar Territory – 674, in the Rostov Region – 623, in the Stavropol Territory – 602, in the Astrakhan Region – 453, in North Ossetia – 351, in Chechnya – 231, in Kabardino-Balkaria – 230, in Ingushetia – 112, in Kalmykia – 110, in Karachay-Cherkessia – 98, and in Adygea – 77.