An Azerbaijani businessman released in Russia has arrived in Baku.

Following the release of Sputnik Azerbaijan editor Yevgeny Belousov, Azerbaijani media reported the arrival in Baku of Yusif Khalilov, a businessman from Voronezh and a leader of the local diaspora who had been arrested on bribery charges.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," amid the diplomatic crisis between Moscow and Baku, security forces in various Russian regions have raised concerns about ethnic Azerbaijanis, including those with Russian citizenship. Signs of easing tensions in relations between the two countries only appeared in October: the first meeting in a long time between Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev took place on October 9 in Dushanbe. On October 10, following the meeting, it was announced that Sputnik Azerbaijan executive director Igor Kartavykh and one of the Azerbaijanis arrested in Russia had been released. On October 19, Kartavykh flew to Russia. The agency's editor-in-chief, Yevgeny Belousov, also arrived in Moscow today.

In Voronezh, Azerbaijani businessman and owner of the Alekseevsky market, Yusif Khalilov, who was arrested in August of this year, has been released. Khalilov arrived in Azerbaijan today, APA reports, citing Khalilov's son.

On August 17, the Leninsky District Court of Voronezh ordered pretrial detention for Yusif Khalilov, businessman and owner of the Alekseevsky Market, one of the leaders of the Azerbaijani diaspora. He was arrested on bribery charges until October 14, Kommersant reported on August 18.

According to investigators, the businessman gave 330,000 rubles to a dermatovenerologist at the regional military registration and enlistment office's military medical commission for a certificate declaring Khalilov's son unfit for military service—he was issued a military ID with the appropriate mark, Voronezh-1 reported on August 20.

Following Khalilov's arrest, the Arbitration Court of the Voronezh Region upheld the city administration's claim against the businessman, recognizing The construction of several buildings owned by him is illegal. A two-story garage with an area of 334.4 square meters will be demolished. Furthermore, the court ordered him to carry out a large-scale renovation of the building housing the Yardy Superbar restaurant. According to documents submitted to the court, the restaurant's site was slated for construction of a private residential building with an area of 407 square meters. However, a two-story building with an area of over 1,200 square meters was actually erected there. Khalilov must now reduce the size of the building to the dimensions specified in the permit documentation. This will require partial dismantling and redevelopment of the building, RIA Voronezh reported on September 4.

 As a reminder, on June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on Russian authorities to investigate the deaths and injuries of Azerbaijanis injured on June 27 as a result of a special operation by security forces in Yekaterinburg. Experts in Baku named blunt force trauma as the cause of death of brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, while the Russian side cited a heart attack. On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces searched the office of the Russian agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and detained two people, calling them agents of the Russian special services, they were arrested. Also on July 1, the court arrested eight Russian citizens, detained on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrimes. On July 7, a Baku court rejected the appeals of the lawyers of Sputnik journalists Igor Kartavykh and Yevgeny Belousov to change the measure of restraint.