Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Belarus’ leader late Thursday, starting a visit that was closely watched for signs the two ex-Soviet neighbors were advancing toward a merger.

A police commando was shot to death on the Kavkaz Federal highway in Ingushetia in the village of Barsuki, Itar-Tass reported on December 11. RIA Novosti quoted a source in Ingushetia’s law-enforcement bodies as saying that the commando, Magomed Tutaev, was fired on at point blank range by unidentified gunmen …

A Dagestani Supreme Court Judge, Kurban Pashaev, was fatally shot by an unidentified attacker on December 11. The Associated Press quoted Makhachkala police spokesman Malvudin Galimov as saying that Pashaev was shot more than ten times in the entranceway of his apartment building in Makhachkala. Citing Russian media,