A court has ordered a forensic medical examination for the arrested mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Ghukasyan. He has been sent to the Republican Medical Center in Yerevan for examination. The politician's condition is assessed as satisfactory, and there is no immediate threat to his life.

The Tbilisi City Court upheld the pretrial detention in absentia for Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the "Gakharia for Georgia!" party and former Interior Minister.

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, refrained from commenting on the issue of Armenia's return to the pro-Russian Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). In response to journalists' questions, he stated: "I have nothing to say on this matter. If new information emerged, I would announce it. All my previous statements remain valid."

Croatian authorities attempted to extradite Magomed Amin Gatagazhev, a native of Ingushetia, who is accused in Russia of participating in illegal armed groups due to his stay in Syria. Human rights activists, seeking to prevent his extradition, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The Chechen opposition movement NIYSO (designated extremist and banned in Russia) reported a possible drone attack on the Russian Special Forces University named after Putin (RUS) in Gudermes on January 7.

Responding to journalists' questions about the country's possible participation in operations to stabilize the situation in the Gaza Strip, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev noted that a clear understanding of the type of operation and the potential mandate is essential for making a decision.

Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeal to his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to kidnap the head of Chechnya, the latter accused the Ukrainian leader of cowardice. According to Ramzan Kadyrov, "Zelenskyy cowardly hinted that he wouldn't mind standing by and watching from a safe distance as someone else punishes his offender," rather than threatening to do so himself.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that on January 5, nine industrial generators of varying capacity, valued at over $553,000, allocated by the Georgian government to support Ukrainian regions affected by Russian aggression, were handed over to the authorized representative of the Sumy Military Administration.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed that the US apply the same measures to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov as were applied to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in order to "make Putin think twice."

The daughter of Azerbaijani opposition figure and political prisoner Tofig Yagublu published a statement written by her father, in which he commented on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Yagublu called Maduro's abduction by US authorities a positive step toward removing an illegitimate, corrupt, and anti-democratic leader, but noted that this raises serious legal questions.