Office of Russian media Sputnik in Baku raided by Azerbaijan officials, diplomatic events cancelled: Read why two Asian energy giants are seeing strained relations
The events of the previous few days have brought the already tense diplomatic ties between Russia and Azerbaijan to a new low. The offices of Russia’s state-funded news organization Sputnik were raided by Baku police on 30th June.
It continued to publish content online even after formally ceasing operations earlier this year due to restrictions on foreign ownership imposed by a new media law in Azerbaijan, but has since continued to function with fewer employees. The publication is a part of the Russian state media agency Rossiya Segodnya.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Azerbaijan emphasised that Sputnik had maintained activities in the nation through “illegal financing” even after its formal accreditation was cancelled in February 2025. It released a video of officers handcuffing two individuals and escorting them to police trucks.
Sputnik’s sister publication, RIA Novosti, conveyed that Igor Kartavykh and Yevgeny Belousov, the director and editor-in-chief of the media outlet in Azerbaijan were apprehended. Ruptly, another Russian media source, mentioned that one of its editors had been arrested for attempting to record the police activity at the Baku offices of Sputnik.
Sputnik and Azerbaijani officials have been attempting to reach a temporary deal that would allow Sputnik to continue operating in Baku, according to Dmitry Kiselev, General Director of Rossiya Segodnya.
He expressed that the actions of Azerbaijani security personnel escorting staff away “with their arms twisted and their heads bowed, as though they were terrorists” stunned Russia. “This all looks like a deliberate step aimed at worsening relations between our countries,” he added.
“Two suspected Federal Security Service (FSB ) agents were caught during the operation,” according to some Azerbaijani media, although Baku did not immediately confirm the detention. On the other hand, Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Moscow, Rahman Mustafayev was called “in connection with the unfriendly actions of Baku and the illegal detention of Russian journalists,” per Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
Deaths of two Azerbaijanis during a police raid in Russia
The killings of two Azerbaijanis during police raids in Russia’s Yekaterinburg have also prompted Azerbaijan to cancelled all cultural events organized by governmental and private organizations in the country. One of the deceased had dual citizenship of Azerbaijan and Russia while the other was a Russian citizen.
On 27th June, investigators in the area carried out numerous raids related to historical unsolved murders, including serial homicides and nabbed 50 people. The arrests were initially attributed to a “ethnic criminal group” connected to early 2000s murders, according to the country’s law enforcement officials.
Russia’s Investigative Committee announced that one man reportedly died from heart failure and that the reason of the second death was still under inquiry. According to the relatives of the deceased, who were identified in Azerbaijani media as brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, both around 60 year old, their remains were transferred to their native nation and the autopsy was scheduled to take place in Baku.
Sayfaddin Huseynli, their brother, told ITV, the state broadcaster in Azerbaijan, that they were subjected to torture “without any trial or investigation, despite their innocence.” He called the raids “savagery,” alleging that other people were beaten and tormented with eletric shocks. “The so-called Russian law enforcement agencies broke into houses in the middle of the night, beat and took people away like animals,” he charged.
Baku registers strong protest, Kremlin rejects the accusation: Diplomatic events cancelled
Moscow has denied Baku’s claim that the Russian police committed extrajudicial executions “on ethnic grounds.” Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s parliament canceled a visit by a Russian deputy prime minister Alexei Overchuk and withdrew from scheduled bilateral talks in Moscow after the Foreign Ministry previously summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires over what it described as the “brutal killings.”
Azerbaijan’s cultural ministry declared that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and other performances were canceled due to “the demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg.”
It stated that Russian law enforcement invaded the residences of Azerbaijani citizens in the industrial city situated in the Ural Mountains after which two Azerbaijanis were murdered and multiple others were gravely wounded while nine were detained.
Officials declared, “The government of Azerbaijan does not consider it appropriate under the current circumstances for Overchuk or any other official representative of Russia to visit the country,” to which the Kremlin responded that it “sincerely regrets” the cancelation of its cultural events in Azerbaijan.
The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan remarked that it anticipated “that the matter will be investigated and all perpetrators of violence brought to justice as soon as possible.” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, confirmed that the raids were a component of a probe into past crimes and added that Russian nationals of Azerbaijani heritage were the subject of raids and detentions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that they will continue to “explain the reason and nature” of the Yekaterinburg searches. He added, “Everything that took place is related to the work of law enforcement agencies, and that cannot and should not be a reason for such a reaction. We are interested in further developing our good relations with Azerbaijan.”
Russia and Azerbaijan’s deteriorating ties: December 2024 plane crash and more
Baku and Moscow have had tense relations for some months after a passenger plane, Azerbaijan Flight 8243 was struck by ground fire on 25th December 2024 while it was approaching Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. It veered to Kazakhstan and crashed during the landing attempt, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
According to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, it was accidentally shot down over Russia and was made uncontrolled by electronic warfare tactics amid reports that Russian air defense systems were attempting to repel a Ukrainian drone strike close to Grozny. Russia was accused by him of attempting to “hush up” the events for several days.
He received an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “tragic incident,” but the latter did not take responsibility. He even declined to go to Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow in May. “We were informed that Aliyev will not come, regrettably. They explained that he is to participate in domestic events related to (his father, former president) Heydar Aliyev,” informed a Kremlin official.
Moreover, Azerbaijan was visited by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later that month, indicating deeper connections between Baku and Kyiv. Now, the conflict between Russia and Azerbaijan, which was once part of the Soviet Union, has once again come to the forefront due to recent developments.
Azerbaijan aims to increase its natural gas imports to Europe
The war between Russia and Ukraine prompted European nations to look for dependable and alternative energy supplies. Azerbaijan, hence, became a major force in this rearrangement and offered a natural gas supply that could be transported via safe and politically stable transit routes. The development has presented a significant challenge to Russian energy exports, which are already encountering stringent sanctions from the European Union.
The Ministry of Energy reported that Azerbaijan’s total natural gas supply to Europe has now exceeded 50 billion cubic meters (bcm). The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the last segment of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which is now a crucial component of the European Union’s diversification policy, served as the catalyst for this accomplishment.
Furthermore, President Ilham Aliyev has set a goal for Azerbaijan to double its gas exports to Europe by 2027. On the other hand, the REPowerEU Plan which was introduced in May 2022 to lessen the bloc’s reliance on Russian energy, helped it lower its share of Russian gas imports from 45% to 19%. Nonetheless, Russian gas imports into the EU increased in 2024.
Currently, both Baku and Moscow are competitors in the European Union regarding energy supply. Russia has maintained a dominant position in the market, while Azerbaijan has steadily strengthened its foothold. A competition in the Energy export sector, though not officially cited as the reason behind the strained relations, is speculated as one of the key reasons nonetheless.
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