The prosecution has requested long sentences for members of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals.

The state prosecutor has demanded a 23-year prison sentence for Shahin Shykhlinski, the former head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg, on charges of murder and attempted murder. For the other defendants, the prosecutor has requested sentences ranging from 13 to 23 years.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in February 2026, a jury found members of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals, including its former head, Shahin Shykhlinski, guilty of murder and attempted murder.

In Yekaterinburg, at the trial of members of the Azerbaijani diaspora accused of murder and attempted murder in 2001 and 2010, the state prosecutor requested prison sentences for the defendants. The prosecutor requested the longest sentence – 23 years – for former Azerbaijani diaspora leader Shahin Shykhlinski and Akif Safarov, Kommersant-Ural reported today.

Harsh sentences were also requested for the other defendants: for Ayaz Safarov, the prosecution is demanding 22 years in prison, followed by two years of restricted freedom, with the first five years to be served in prison. Kamal Safarov has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Mazahir and Bakir Safarov each face 13 years, with the first five years to be served in prison. Prosecutors are asking for a final sentence of 15 years for Shujayaddin Radzhabov, taking into account his previous unserved sentence.

According to investigators, the defendants were part of an ethnic criminal group that murdered businessman Yunus Pashayev, a clothing seller at the Tagansky Ryad market, near the Metallon café in May 2001. In May 2010, an attempt was made on Fekhruz Shirinov, but the killer's gun misfired. Investigators believe the motive for the crimes was the division of spheres of influence in business and a struggle for leadership within the diaspora.

A separate criminal case has been opened against other members of the ethnic criminal group: Akhliman Ganjiyev, Aziz Abasov, and Shahin Lalayev. The prosecution believes they hired a hitman to kill Ikram Gadzhiyev, the owner of a large vegetable warehouse, in August 2011. The price of the hit could have reached $50,000. According to investigators, the hitman shot Ikram Gadzhiyev in the head, but Gadzhiyev managed to snatch the weapon and tear off the killer's cap and glasses. A few days later, the businessman died without being able to name the person who ordered the hit.

A separate criminal case has also been opened against the son of the former head of the Azerbaijani diaspora, Mutvala Shykhlinski, who is accused of using violence against a government official. According to investigators, in the summer of 2025, while arresting his father, Shykhlinski Jr. hit a Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard) officer with his car. His lawyer claimed he did not do so intentionally. Shahin Shykhlinski himself faces similar charges. The trial is closed to the press because the victim is a law enforcement officer, the publication clarified. Relations between Moscow and Baku noticeably worsened after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board from Baku to Grozny in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024. More details can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Baku-Grozny Plane Crash" and in the article "Geopolitical Confrontation: What Led to the Crash of the AZAL Plane".