(MENAFN) The Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan has revealed that it carried out a search operation at the Baku bureau of the Russian media outlet Sputnik.

This action follows increasing frictions between the two countries, which intensified after Russian authorities conducted a crackdown on individuals allegedly linked to Azerbaijani criminal groups.

Local press verified on Monday that a substantial security force had surrounded the premises that house the Sputnik editorial office in Baku.

Meanwhile, the organization's headquarters in Moscow reported that it was unable to establish communication with its correspondents in the Azerbaijani capital.

Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, voiced apprehension regarding the incident.

She also noted that Azerbaijan’s administration had failed to reply to diplomatic inquiries sent by Moscow concerning the situation.

The raid in Baku is widely believed to be a retaliatory step taken by Azerbaijani authorities, following the apprehension of several ethnic Azeri individuals in Russia the previous week.

Russian police identified those individuals as participants in a criminal network implicated in a series of homicides in the city of Ekaterinburg.

The Investigative Committee of Russia stated that the crimes being investigated go as far back as 2001.

These acts were reportedly connected to a broader illegal strategy aimed at gaining dominance over local commercial enterprises.

On Monday, the agency further disclosed that one of the homicide victims held Azerbaijani nationality.

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