Moscow, Baku Rift Escalates as Azeri Police Raid Russian Media Office

Azerbaijani police detained two journalists and raided the office of the Russian state-owned news agency, “Sputnik,” on Monday in Baku. 

Azeri authorities had ordered the closure of the Sputnik office in February, but the agency continued to operate in Baku.

Russia’s foreign ministry has reportedly summoned Azerbaijan’s ambassador over the raid, citing “unlawful detention of Russian journalists,” according to AFP.

Dmitry Kisilev, CEO of the Russian state-owned media group “Russia Today” that owns Sputnik, told another Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Monday that Baku aims to “[worsen] interstate relations” via the arrest. 

“The Azerbaijani security forces enter the editorial office and take away the leadership of our division as ‘FSB officers’ with their arms twisted and heads bowed, like terrorists. It all looks like a deliberate step with the aim of worsening interstate relations.”

This is the latest move in the diplomatic fallout between Russia and Azerbaijan.

Over the weekend, two Azeris were killed in Russian police raids in the city of Yekaterinburg. 

The incident prompted Baku’s Ministry of Culture to issue a statement on X, decrying the acts as “targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis.”

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SBU, HUR, and SSO Joint Drone Strike Cripples Tamanneftegas Terminal

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in a joint operation with the Special Operations Forces (SSO) and the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), carried out a drone strike against the “Tamanneftegas” terminal in Krasnodar Krai. Acting on operational objectives set by Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian long-range drones struck five petroleum storage tanks, two marine loading arms, and adjacent logistics infrastructure.

Azerbaijan also cancelled all Russian cultural events following the incident.

Azerbaijan has been a key ally of an increasingly isolated Moscow, helping the sanctioned nation evade sanctions by importing banned goods into Russia.

In late December 2024, a jet mainly carrying Azeri passengers was downed soon after departing Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic. Investigations later suggested that it was downed by Russian air defense. 

Baku strongly criticized the incident and demanded that Moscow apologize and claim responsibility. Russian leader Vladimir Putin eventually apologized without accepting responsibility.