The editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan have been detained in Baku, local media report.
The detainees are reportedly Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief Igor Kartavykh and editor-in-chief Yevgeniy Belousov.
Local media Minval claims that the detainees were “FSB agents” and allegedly worked undercover at Sputnik Azerbaijan.
According to Report, citing the agency’s statement, police officers conducted a special operation in the office of Sputnik Azerbaijan on the basis of operational information about illegal financing of the structure’s activities.
“The agency’s accreditation was terminated in February 2025. However, operational information was received that the agency continues to function with the help of illegal financing. There are detainees,” the report says.
In February, Azerbaijani authorities decided to reduce the number of editorial staff from 40 to one in order to “restore the balance in the conditions in which Azerbaijani state publications abroad and foreign journalists work” in Baku.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia escalated after more than 50 people of Azerbaijani origin were detained in Yekaterinburg on 27 June. Two people died and two others were seriously injured during the raid. Baku called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the detentions were carried out as part of an investigation into serious crimes. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova specified that the cases in question were those related to murders committed in 2001, 2010 and 2011.