(MENAFN) A journalist working for the Russian video news agency Ruptly has been detained by Azerbaijani authorities while filming outside the Sputnik Azerbaijan office in Baku, which was raided earlier on Monday. Ruptly confirmed that their editor, Aytekin Guseynova, was filming for about 20 minutes before contact was lost just as she was wrapping up her work. Her mother later confirmed her arrest.

During the police raid, Sputnik’s Baku office head, Igor Kartavykh, and editor-in-chief Evgeny Belousov were also detained. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry stated the raid was conducted based on information that Sputnik had been operating with illegal financing.

Back in February, Baku had restricted Sputnik’s accreditation to just one journalist, effectively limiting its operations, although the outlet denied receiving any official ban. The foreign ministries of Russia and Azerbaijan have been discussing the agency’s status.

Local media reports claim the detained journalists are accused of acting as agents for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), allegations Sputnik has dismissed as “absurd.” In response to the detentions, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador to express concern.

These events come amid worsening relations between Moscow and Baku, following a Russian police raid in Yekaterinburg targeting a suspected organized crime group made up of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani descent. The investigation relates to unresolved murder cases from the early 2000s linked to gang-related business disputes. Six suspects remain in pre-trial detention, and two others reportedly died during the raid, with initial reports suggesting heart failure as the cause.

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