Russian FM calls on Azerbaijani ambassador after journalists arrest

(MENAFN) Russia’s Foreign Ministry called in Azerbaijani ambassador Rakhman Mustafaev following the arrest of three Russian journalists in Baku. Among those detained on Monday were two senior editors from Sputnik media and one reporter from the Ruptly video news agency.

Tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan have escalated recently, particularly after a police raid in Yekaterinburg, Russia, targeting the local Azerbaijani community.

Addressing the arrests, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that “in light of Baku’s hostile actions and the unlawful detention of Russian journalists… the ambassador of the Azerbaijani Republic has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.” She also expressed concern that Russian diplomats “have not been able to contact the [detained] journalists [who are] Russian citizens.”

Dmitry Kiselev, head of the ‘Rossiya Segodnya’ media group, which oversees Sputnik, condemned the detentions as “an injustice.” He emphasized that “there have been no objections to the journalistic work of Sputnik Azerbaijan” and noted that Russian and Azerbaijani officials had agreed in a Moscow meeting earlier in April to resolve operational “formalities” for the outlet—although he claimed that Baku has delayed this process.

Kiselev criticized the Azerbaijani police for treating the Russian reporters “as though they were terrorists,” pointing out that this conduct contrasts sharply with the friendly relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Sputnik later confirmed that Igor Kartavykh, the head of its editorial office, and Editor-in-Chief Evgeny Belousov were among those detained in Baku. Both were accused of acting as agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), allegations which Sputnik has dismissed as “absurd.”

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