Russian journalists detained in Azerbaijan

Baku has arrested the chief editors of Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency

Authorities in Baku have detained the head editors of Russian news agency Sputnik after conducting searches at the outlet’s office on Monday. The arrests come amid escalating tensions between the two countries, following a Russian police crackdown on suspected Azerbaijani gangs.

The agency has confirmed that the head of the editorial office Igor Kartavykh and Editor-in-Chief Evgeny Belousov were detained during the raid. According to local media reports, the journalists have been accused of being agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Sputnik has described the allegations as “absurd.”

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has confirmed the raid on the Russian outlet, promising to provide further details shortly.

“The agency’s accreditation was suspended in February 2025. However, we received a tip that the agency continued to operate through illegal financing. There are detainees,” the ministry stated.

In February, Baku had moved to effectively shut down Sputnik’s office, giving accreditation to just a single journalist. The outlet, however, told RT that it had never received a formal prohibition, and the foreign ministers of the two countries have been discussing issues related to the agency’s work.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador over Baku’s actions and the detention of the Russian journalists.

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The hostile move against the Russian news agency comes amid a new flare-up in the relations between Moscow and Baku. Tensions arose after a police raid on a suspected organized crime group in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin. The raid came as a part of an investigation into several cold murder cases, dating back to the early 2000s and believed to be gang assassinations related to ‘business’ disputes.

Six suspects from the alleged crime ring, all of whom are Russian nationals, are now being held in pre-trial detention, while two others died during the raid, according to the Russian authorities. Preliminary assessment indicated that the suspects, who were elderly, suffered heart failure during the raid.

The police action drew the ire of several Azerbaijani politicians and public figures, who demanded retaliation against Russia and accused the country of targeting the alleged crime ring based on the ethnicity of the suspects. Earlier on Monday, the Russian Investigative Committee said it had transferred the case to its central office and was further investigating the activities of the alleged organized crime group.