In Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, authorities conducted a search of the offices of the Russian state-sponsored news agency, Sputnik, on Monday amidst escalating tension between Azerbaijan and Russia. The search followed heightened friction due to the recent incident in which two ethnic Azerbaijanis lost their lives during a police operation in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
According to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sputnik had been operating in the country through “illegal financing” even though its official accreditation was revoked back in February 2025. During the search, arrests were made, but details were sparse. However, Azerbaijani media circulated images of masked officers escorting two individuals, believed to be Sputnik’s Azerbaijan editor-in-chief, Yevgeny Belousov, and director Igor Kartavykh.
Following the raid, Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Moscow, Rahman Mustafayev, was urgently summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, informed that it was concerned over the “illegal detention of Russian journalists” as cited by the local Russian media, Interfax.
These events transpired after Azerbaijan officially protested against the actions in Yekaterinburg, where Russian police raids on homes led to the deaths of brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov and the injury of several others. Authorities confirmed that nine individuals were detained during the operations.
Sayfaddin Huseynli, a relative of the deceased, condemned the actions as “an inhumane, cruel act by Russia against migrants.” He further claimed that the deceased were brutally beaten and given electric shocks without proper judicial procedure. One of the deceased was a Russian passport holder, while the other had dual citizenship.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry called for a thorough investigation into the matter, demanding accountability for the violence. In response, the Russian Investigative Committee indicated that one of the fatalities was due to heart failure, and an autopsy was pending for the other victim, hinting at an extensive investigation tied to a broader crime inquiry spanning many years.
Baku’s immediate reaction included canceling a planned official trip to Moscow, citing the “extrajudicial killings and nationality-based violence” by Russian authorities. Additionally, numerous cultural events involving Russian participation were called off.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s response was notably subdued. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, expressed regret over Azerbaijan’s decisions to rebuff planned engagements. He insisted that the raids were strictly law enforcement matters and should not provoke such a fierce reaction.
This tension adds to a series of events that have strained Moscow-Baku relations over recent months. Notably, an Azerbaijani plane suffered an attack as it neared Grozny in late 2024, leading to a crash in Kazakhstan due to technical interference, killing dozens. The incident prompted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to accuse Russia of minimizing the gravity of the situation, receiving an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin, although not an acknowledgment of direct culpability.
President Aliyev further signaled a cooling of diplomatic relations with Russia by skipping the Victory Day parade in Moscow. Around the same time, Baku engaged in diplomatic exchanges with Ukraine, highlighted by a visit from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, suggesting a warming of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine amidst the broader geopolitical currents.