News & Updates

Concern and anger are growing among Circassians in the Caucasus and throughout the diaspora following reports concerning the death of Nurdin (Najmuddin) Karaf, a young Circassian man whose disappearance had attracted widespread attention within Circassian communities.

More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the burden of the war is increasingly being felt far from the battlefield. Among the communities most vulnerable to its long-term consequences are the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus, including Circassians, Chechens, Ingush, Dagestanis, Balkars, Karachays and other non-Russian ethnic groups.

The International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) has argued that the NATO Summit held in Ankara marks a significant shift in the Alliance's strategic priorities, placing the Black Sea region, the Caucasus, and the long-term containment of Russia at the center of Euro-Atlantic security planning.

Prof. Dr. Merab Chukhua, one of Georgia's leading experts on Caucasian studies, has called on the international community to officially recognize the Circassian Genocide.

The International Circassian Political Committee (ICPC) expresses its deepest concern and unequivocal condemnation of reports that additional Russian forces have been dispatched to the Circassian regions of Kabarda, Cherkess, and Adygea to carry out the forced conscription of Circassian civilians into the Russian military, compelling them to fight on the front lines in Ukrainian war against their will.

Latvia's intelligence service has warned that Russia is preparing "military provocations" against the Baltic states and Poland, aimed at pressuring NATO into withdrawing its support for Ukraine

Russian Supreme Court has declared OVD-Info and 35 other organizations "extremist," further expanding its crackdown on civil society. The move comes just weeks after Memorial, one of Russia's leading human rights organizations, was given the same designation.

According to data compiled by Caucasian Knot from official statements by Russian authorities and security agencies, more than 9,000 soldiers from Southern Russia have been officially confirmed killed in Russia's war against Ukraine. The confirmed death toll includes 4,435 soldiers from the North Caucasus and 4,565 from the Southern Federal District, although the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.

March 2026 – Freedom House has once again classified Russia as "Not Free" in its annual Freedom in the World 2026 report, assigning the country a Global Freedom Score of just 12 out of 100. The findings portray a political system in which power remains overwhelmingly concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin, while fundamental rights and civil liberties continue to deteriorate.

A recent analysis published by the Berlin-based think tank Zentrum Liberale Moderne (LibMod) reveals that while Moscow refuses to confront its own colonial past, it is disproportionately deploying minority populations from peripheral regions to the front lines of the war in Ukraine and silencing civil society actors seeking rights with heavy prison sentences.

A group of prominent Circassian intellectuals, human rights defenders, and public figures in Kabardino-Balkaria has issued a public appeal urging the republic's authorities to reject proposed constitutional amendments that would remove key provisions defining the republic's statehood and constitutional status.

A new report documents an alarming escalation in the persecution of Indigenous leaders, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders across Russia. Titled The Crime of Being Indigenous, the report finds that Russian authorities have moved beyond restricting Indigenous civic space and are increasingly using anti-extremism and anti-terrorism legislation to criminalize peaceful advocacy for Indigenous rights.

MOSCOW — Russian authorities are reportedly developing a program aimed at reshaping the “hierarchy of values” among residents of the North Caucasus, a move that critics say reflects a broader effort to strengthen Russian national identity at the expense of the region’s indigenous ethnic and cultural identities.

The International Circassian Political Committee (ICPC) has sent an official letter of condolence to Ukrainian diplomatic missions following the recent terrorist attack carried out by Russian invading forces against civilians in Ukraine.

An article published on delfi.lt by Mr. Žygimantas Pavilionis, Member of the Seimas, Deputy Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, and one of the coordinators of the Circassian Genocide Conference held at the Seimas on 17 December 2025.

The public statements of Mikhail Khodorkovsky raise an uncomfortable but necessary question: are we truly witnessing a rejection of imperial thinking, or merely an adapted version designed for a Western audience?

Jack Gill argues that the Russian Empire's near-total destruction of the Circassian people remains one of history's most overlooked atrocities — and that the Kremlin's new identity strategy poses fresh risks for Russia's ethnic minorities.

A newly discussed literary analysis has drawn attention to what may be one of the earliest fictional portrayals of a Circassian character in Western literature: King Sacripante of Circassia, a central figure in the Renaissance epics Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso.

A large-scale petition campaign has been launched by Circassian and North Caucasian diaspora organisations in Turkey, directed at Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) Head Kazbek Kokov and relevant Russian federal institutions, protesting what signatories describe as a systematic campaign of intimidation against residents of the republic ahead of the annual May 21 Day of Remembrance.

A new policy commentary published by the Institute for Knowledge, Research, and Society (IKRS) calls on European think tanks and policymakers to fundamentally rethink how they approach the North Caucasus — and places the Circassian genocide at the heart of that challenge.