Azerbaijan has publicly criticised Russia following a security raid in the city of Yekaterinburg that left several Azerbaijani nationals dead and dozens detained, triggering a diplomatic fallout.

Source: European Pravda

Details:Russian media reports indicate that over 50 Azerbaijani nationals were detained in Yekaterinburg on Friday 27 June in connection with an unresolved criminal case regarding the 2001 murder of Yunis Pashayev.

The main suspects in the case, brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, died shortly after being taken into custody. Russian law enforcement authorities stated that they suddenly "felt unwell".

The following day, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador to Baku Pyotr Volokovykh, and lodged a "strong protest" over the detentions of Azerbaijani citizens in Yekaterinburg.

The Azerbaijani side stressed that during the operation, two of its citizens were "brutally killed", several others sustained serious injuries, and nine were arrested.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan cancelled all cultural events that had been scheduled with the participation of Russian state and private institutions.

Additionally, a planned visit by an Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to Moscow was cancelled in response to the "deliberate, targeted killings and acts of ethnic violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, without trial or investigation".

Background:

• This is not the first public disagreement between Russia and Azerbaijan in recent months.
• In June, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry expressed outrage over a statement by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who referred to Nagorno-Karabakh while commenting on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
• Earlier, Azerbaijani authorities ordered the closure of the Russian House cultural centre in Baku over legal violations.

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