Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said Yerevan does not rule out taking its dispute with Russia over the management of the South Caucasus Railway to an international court if the issue cannot be resolved through negotiations. At the same time, he stressed that the Armenian authorities hope to settle the matter through talks.
The Nalchik Garrison Military Court found Junior Sergeant Asker Kochkarov guilty of evading military service. Ego was sentenced to five years in a penal colony.
In October 2023, Kochkarov, who served under a contract, was transferred to a new position in the DPR. A month later, he left voluntarily and soon turned to the military prosecutor's office of the garrison to complain about this transfer. Kochkarov did not comply with the order to report to the commandant's office and "spent his time at his own discretion, living with his parents." On January 22, 2024, he voluntarily came to the investigative department, but later again did not comply with the investigator's instruction to appear at the department in Mozdok. On April 24, the man was stopped by the police and detained.
The court recognized the presence of a minor child and "his active contribution to the investigation of the crime" as mitigating circumstances.