Baku Calls on Russia to Investigate Detention of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg

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Representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora were detained in Yekaterinburg. According to the source, one of them died. Baku called on Moscow to investigate the detention and punish the perpetrators. Amid the accusations, the visit to Azerbaijan of Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk was cancelled.

On June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on Russia to investigate the detention of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. The statement, published on the department's website, said that as a result of a special operation by security forces in the homes of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, nine people were detained, some were injured, and casualties were also reported.

"We express deep concern in connection with the death of our fellow citizens and the serious bodily injuries to some of them, as well as the detention of nine people," the department said in a statement, which demanded "an urgent investigation of this case and bringing to justice those who commit unacceptable violence in the shortest possible time."

The Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region reported on June 28 that the activities of an ethnic criminal group suspected of a number of murders and attempted murders had been stopped in the region.

According to investigators, the defendants were involved in a number of murders and attempted murders committed in Yekaterinburg in 2001, 2010, 2011. It is noted that several suspects have already confessed and are cooperating with the investigation. The defendants are also being checked for involvement in other crimes. There is no information about the wounded or dead.

The Telegram channel "E1.ru / News of Yekaterinburg" claims that one of the main suspects died when security forces broke into his room. According to an acquaintance of the deceased, he felt ill and clutched his heart. They called an ambulance, but they could not save him. "He was no longer young," the acquaintance noted.

The message notes that the deceased was one of the brothers suspected of killing a merchant in Yekaterinburg in 2001. "Dozens of people associated with the Azerbaijani diaspora are being interrogated," the Telegram channel writes.

The statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was responded to by the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. According to her, the detentions of representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg were carried out as part of a criminal case. "Detentions and searches were carried out at the places of residence of the suspects, who are citizens of Russia, originally from Azerbaijan," RBK quotes her as saying.

Zakharova also reported that on June 28, the Chargé d'Affaires of Russia Petr Volokov was invited to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, who gave the necessary explanations to the Azerbaijani side, "assured that the situation is under the control of law enforcement agencies."

Against the background of the exchange of statements, the visit of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk to Azerbaijan, scheduled for the end of the month, was canceled. According to Trend, in connection with the events in Yekaterinburg, the Azerbaijani side does not see the expediency of a visit by Overchuk or any other official of the Russian Federation to the country.

Recall that, as "Caucasian Knot" wrote, relations between Moscow and Baku have noticeably worsened in 2025. This happened after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, flying from Baku to Grozny, according to the report "Geopolitical confrontation: what led to the crash of the AZAL plane" prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

In February, at the request of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the activities of the "Russian House" in Baku were terminated, then the representative office of the media group "Russia Today" was liquidated.

On February 20, leading media outlets in Azerbaijan were subjected to a large-scale cyberattack. The attackwas organized by a Russian cyber espionage group, Baku said.

In May, Azer Badamov, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament from the ruling party, who was traveling to the Astrakhan region as part of an Azerbaijani delegation, was detained at a Moscow airport and deported. This decision was made after he made harsh statements about Russian State Duma deputy Nikolai Valuev. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation from Russia, and itself declared Valuev persona non grata.

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