The Lelo – Strong Georgia coalition plans to participate in the local government elections to be held on October 4 this year. This position runs counter to the intention of most opposition political groups to boycott the vote.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan said Ankara was closely monitoring tensions between Moscow and Baku and urging both sides to exercise restraint. He stressed that his country maintains deep diplomatic and strategic ties with both Russia and Azerbaijan, and expressed hope that recent events would not cause irreparable damage to these relations.

Georgia's sixth president, Mikheil Kavelashvili, whose legitimacy is not recognized by his predecessor, the opposition, and a significant part of the country's population, addressed convicted politicians with an offer on his Facebook page. He called on them to file a petition for pardon and confirm their desire to participate in the upcoming local government elections, promising to immediately issue a pardon act in this case.

The chairman of the national-cultural autonomy of Azerbaijanis in the Moscow Region, Elshan Ibragimov, has been stripped of his Russian citizenship. This decision was allegedly made due to "committing actions that pose a threat to Russia's national security."

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution "On Supporting Democracy and OSCE Values ​​in Georgia", in which it expressed concern over the violations revealed during last year's parliamentary elections and the subsequent deterioration of democratic processes in the country. Both official Tbilisi and the country's opposition responded to the document.

Five employees of the Russian agency Sputnik Azerbaijan with citizenship of this country were released on bail. Russian citizens, the head of the publication Igor Kartavykh and the editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov remain under arrest.

Diplomatic tensions are growing between Russia and Azerbaijan amid the high-profile deaths of the Safarov brothers after being tortured by FSB officers. It all began on June 27 in Yekaterinburg – the city saw mass detentions and arrests of people from Azerbaijan in connection with the 2001-2011 contract killings. Two key suspects died after being detained, with signs of brutal beatings found on their bodies. For more details, watch our video.

Access to Azerbaijani news sites has been restricted in Russia. It is noted that problems with access are observed in Moscow, Astrakhan, Volgograd, St. Petersburg, Vologda, Chelyabinsk and other regions.

On June 25, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that an attempted coup by the "criminal-oligarchic clergy" had been thwarted. Following house searches, 16 people were detained, including Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the "Holy Struggle" movement, who criticized the government for its decisions on Nagorno-Karabakh and led protests last spring. But Pashinyan hasn't stopped there and is threatening to remove the Catholicos of All Armenians.

On June 28, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov married his third son, 17-year-old Adam, known for beating defendant Nikita Zhuravel, his collection of orders and medals, and his indecently rapid rise through the Chechen security forces. On their wedding day, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the newlyweds and their parents.