INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have struck a brand-new low following the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijani males during
mass cops arrests in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg last week.Azerbaijans Foreign Ministrysummoned Russias charg daffaires, Pyotr
Volokovykh, on Saturday to object what it called the harsh killing of the two Azerbaijani males during Fridays raids
The ministry said numerous others were seriously injured.Russian law enforcement authorities at first stated the arrests targeted an ethnic
criminal group linked to murders from the early 2000s, and verified the detainees were Azerbaijani-born Russian citizens
In overall, around 50 individuals were arrested.Police did not acknowledge any deaths until later on, when Russias Investigative Committee
saidMonday that one male appeared to have died from heart failure, while the cause of the 2nd death was still under investigation.Relatives
of the victims, identified in Azerbaijani media as siblings Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, stated that an autopsy of the two bodies, which
were reportedly sent to Azerbaijan, will be performed in Baku sometime this week.In an indication of the diplomatic fallout, Azerbaijans
Culture Ministry on Sunday canceled all Russian-linked shows, exhibits and celebrations, citing demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial
killings carried out on ethnic grounds
Azerbaijans parliament also took out of a scheduled bilateral conference in Moscow, and the government canceled a visit by Russian Deputy
Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.The federal government of Azerbaijan does rule out it appropriate under the current situations for Overchuk
or any other official representative of Russia to visit the nation, the Azerbaijani news agency Report estimated officials as saying.The
Kremlin saiditsincerely is sorry for the cancellation of Russian cultural programs in Azerbaijan.Later on Monday, police authorities in Baku
raided the workplace of Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local branch of Russias state news network
Although Sputnik formally suspended operations in the South Caucasus country earlier this year after a new media law restricted foreign
ownership, it continued publishing content online.Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry claimed the news outlet continues to run through unlawful
financing, while likewise confirming that arrests had actually been made throughout the authorities search.Local news outlets reported that
Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief Igor Kartavykh and deputy editor Evgeny Belousov were among those detained on Monday
SeveralAzerbaijani outlets claimedthat the two guys are employees of Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), but there was no official
confirmation of that information.A third Russian reporter was arrested on Monday while recording the police search, according to the Russian
state-owned Ruptly video news agency.Amid the reports, Russias Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijans ambassador in Moscow was summoned in
connection with the hostile actions of Baku and the illegal detention of Russian journalists.Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have
actually grown significantly stretched because Russian air defenses shot down a traveler aircraft flying from Baku to Grozny in the republic
The plane eventually crashed in western Kazakhstan, eliminating 38 people on board.Russian President Vladimir Putin provided an uncommon
apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the crash
Still, he stoppedshort of accepting obligation, saying air defense systems in Chechnya were reacting to a Ukrainian drone strike on the day
