Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan openly stated his desire to prevent the pro-Russian opposition party "Strong Armenia" and the "Armenia" bloc from entering parliament in the 2026 elections. He accused the opposition members of simulating work and coming to parliament only to collect salaries. These remarks came amid the arrests of representatives of "Strong Armenia" on charges of vote-buying.
57-year-old Crimean political prisoner Yashar Muedinov was transferred to Omsk Penal Colony No. 9, although his return to a penal colony in the Arkhangelsk region was previously planned. The reasons for this transfer are not specified.
As a reminder, at the end of 2025, Muedinov was transferred from Penal Colony No. 5 to a local Arkhangelsk pretrial detention center, with his family informed that he would be returned to the penal colony in two weeks. However, this did not happen. On January 22 of this year, Muedinov informed his family that he was in Yaroslavl and was being transferred further, without specifying his final destination.
For over a month, his relatives were unaware of Yashar Muedinov's whereabouts. After contacting the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Arkhangelsk region, it was discovered that he had ended up in a remote penal colony in Omsk.
In 2022, a Crimean Tatar was sentenced to 13 years in prison. According to lawyer Lili Gemedzhi, the secret witnesses in the case, who testified under pseudonyms, were not acquainted with the defendant. The defense attempted to prove the charges were unfounded.
The political prisoner was accused of terrorist activity and an attempt to seize power. He pleaded not guilty and believes his prosecution is politically motivated, as he criticized the Russian and Crimean authorities after the peninsula's annexation by Russia.