Diplomatic tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan intensified on Monday after Azerbaijan announced the cancellation of Russian cultural events, citing the alleged extrajudicial killings of ethnic Azerbaijanis by Russian authorities. The Kremlin swiftly condemned the move, calling it a regrettable step driven by a misunderstanding of domestic law enforcement actions.

The conflict stems from recent police operations in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where authorities detained six suspects—reportedly all Russian passport holders—in connection to a series of unresolved crimes, including serial killings. Two of the suspects died while in custody. Russian investigators said one had suffered heart failure, while medical examinations are pending on the other.

Azerbaijan has accused Russian law enforcement of targeting the suspects based on their ethnicity, a charge the Kremlin has firmly rejected. Baku’s Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires to protest what it labeled “brutal killings,” and Azerbaijani lawmakers promptly withdrew from scheduled talks in Moscow. A planned visit from a Russian deputy prime minister was also canceled.

Further stoking the dispute, Azerbaijan’s police on Monday launched raids on the offices of Sputnik Azerbaijan, a local arm of the Russian state media agency Rossiya Segodnya.

In a move highlighting the widening rift, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture declared it would suspend all upcoming Russian cultural initiatives on Azerbaijani soil. The ministry cited what it called “demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence” by Russian law enforcement as the basis for its decision.

Responding to the cancellation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed disappointment, stressing the importance of open communication to clarify what transpired in Yekaterinburg.

“We sincerely regret such decisions,” Peskov said during a briefing with reporters. “We believe that everything happening in Yekaterinburg is the result of standard law enforcement activity, and it should not prompt such reactions.”

The incident underscores the increasingly fragile relations between Moscow and Baku, two nations that have long maintained strategic, albeit complex, ties. With both diplomatic and cultural bridges now under strain, the fallout from this dispute could reverberate across broader regional dynamics.

By Staff Writer, Courtesy of Forbes | June 30, 2025 | Edited for WTFwire.com
Source: Reuters