On October 18, Azerbaijan celebrates the Day of the Restoration of Independence. It was on this date in 1991 that the republic’s Supreme Soviet adopted a Constitutional Act, formalizing the country’s departure from the Soviet system and the restoration of its state sovereignty.

American Republican Congressman Joe Wilson has criticized Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze for holding talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The meeting took place in Yerevan on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).

On the evening of 17 October, a drone alert was declared again in several districts of Krasnodar Krai. The warning covered Anapa, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, Abinsky, Krymsky and Temryuksky districts. Earlier in the day, alerts had also been issued in Sochi, Tuapse municipal district and Mostovsky district.

In the third quarter of 2026, monthly internet traffic to educational websites in Karachay-Cherkessia was 1.3 times higher than in the first quarter. Among users aged over 55, the figure increased fivefold, according to a study by telecommunications operator MegaFon and the Skillbox educational group.