Opposition figure Gulu Mammadli stated that the arrest of Ali Karimli, leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was expected, but the reasons go beyond simple criticism of the authorities. According to Mammadli, Karimli's publications in major Western media have increased his political significance and visibility abroad, which has caused concern among the Azerbaijani authorities.
A new video has appeared with prisoners from the special forces group "Aid" of the "Akhmat" battalion from Chechnya. In the video, during interrogation, one of them claims that his name is Delimkhan and he is from Grozny.
"Ramzan Akhmatovich, I send you my greetings. Take us away," he says.
Earlier, the commander of the Chechen "Akhmat" battalion, Apti Alaudinov, said that "not a single fighter of the unit surrendered." He reported this after Ukrainian publics posted a video of captured Chechens from "Akhmat" online.
"For the enemy, the "Akhmat" special forces are a thorn in the side, like other units, but he loves us especially well. He is very attached to us, and in this context the enemy makes a lot of rumors about the fighters of the special forces unit "Akhmat" and the fighters of "Aida" surrendering. Although, in principle, in life it happens that someone can be captured under different circumstances. But, praise be to the Almighty, not one of our fighters was captured," Alaudinov said.