Russian news outlet in Azerbaijan raided amid diplomatic row
The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has announced a raid on the Baku office of Russian news network Sputnik. The move comes amid tensions between the two nations, following a police raid on suspected Azerbaijani gangs in Russia.
There is a strong police presence around the building hosting the Sputnik newsroom in Baku, local media confirmed on Monday. The outlet’s central office in Moscow said it cannot get in touch with its journalists.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed concern with the development, and that the government of Azerbaijan would not respond to requests for explanations sent by Moscow.
The raid is suspected to be part of Baku’s reaction to the arrests last week of several ethnic Azeri men, whom Russian law enforcement described as members of a gang responsible for several murders in Ekaterinburg.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the alleged crimes date back to 2001 and were part of a criminal effort to exert control over local businesses. At least one of the victims had Azerbaijani citizenship, the agency revealed on Monday.
Officials in Baku expressed outrage over the deaths of two targets of the Russian raids, while local media alleged that Moscow was targeting Azeri people for their ethnicity. The Investigative Committee said one of the detainees died from a heart attack, while the cause of death of the second individual has yet to be determined.
The Azerbaijani government has canceled multiple cultural events associated with Russia in apparent retaliation for the incident, which the Kremlin said on Monday was regrettable. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “will keep explaining the causes and the nature of the events, which the Azerbaijani side cites as the reason for such demarches.”
In February, Baku threatened to effectively shut down Sputnik’s office, giving accreditation to just one journalist. However, the outlet told RT that it had received no formal prohibition, as the foreign ministries of the two nations were discussing possible issues with its work.
