The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has struck out 879 remaining applications against Russia involving more than 1,500 individuals and organisations. The Memorial Human Rights Centre described the decision as “unprecedented in the practice of the [ECHR], and indeed in the history of international justice as a whole”.

A three-day vigil in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on School No. 1 ended in Beslan on Wednesday. The commemorations began on September 1, the anniversary of the school siege, and concluded on September 3, marking the anniversary of the operation to free the hostages. The main events were held at the former school building and at the City of Angels memorial cemetery. At 1:05 p.m. — the time when the first explosions tore through the school’s gymnasium 22 years ago — a minute of silence was observed.

Seventeen years ago, on Aug. 10, 2009, Chechen human rights defender Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were abducted from the office of their charity in Grozny. Their bodies were found the following day, in what remains one of the most prominent unsolved killings of civil society activists in Chechnya.

Today marks 18 years since the start of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, known as the Five-Day War. It was on this day that Russia invaded Georgian territory, marking the beginning of hostilities between the two countries.