On July 1, during a meeting of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Rahman Mustafayev at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a note of protest from the Republic of Azerbaijan was presented to the other side, first of all, regarding the serious violation of the law in Yekaterinburg, including the murder and particularly brutal beating of our compatriots, including both Azerbaijani and Russian citizens.

Axar.az reports that Aykhan Hajizada, Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, made this statement while commenting on the information of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that on July 1, 2025, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the events taking place in Yekaterinburg, as well as the events held at the office of Sputnik-Azerbaijan, a branch of the Russian International News Agency “Rossiya Segodnya”.

It was noted that the note also expressed strong protest against the use of torture and degrading treatment by Russian law enforcement agencies during the interrogation of our compatriots.

"It was brought to the attention of the attention that these actions of law enforcement agencies are a violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation and internationally recognized fundamental human rights and freedoms.

In addition, it was stated that the ethnic intolerance demonstrated against Azerbaijanis during the organization and conduct of the raids, as well as the coverage of such cases in the Russian media, is of serious concern.

It was noted that the illegal actions of the Russian law enforcement agencies, the murder and serious injury of our compatriots, have caused an extremely negative reaction in the public of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

It was demanded that Russia take urgent measures to thoroughly and objectively investigate these attacks, as well as to bring the perpetrators to justice under the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

In turn, the ambassador brought to the attention of the other side the position of our country regarding the measures taken at the office of "Sputnik-Azerbaijan", which is presented as a branch of the International News Agency "Rossiya segodnya".

The operational-search measures taken by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the office fully comply with the legislation of our country and international obligations.

As is known, on December 12, 2019, On February 20, the head of the Baku branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Rossiya Segodnya" international information agency was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and informed that there was no legal basis for their activities as a branch and representative office in our country, and a notification was submitted to the counterparty to suspend the activities of the branch within 3 days. Despite this, the citizens of the Russian Federation, whose accreditation of the said branch was revoked, the branch continued to operate illegally.

As noted in the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a criminal case has been initiated under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code in connection with the said illegal activity, and investigative measures are being continued.

In this regard, it was noted that there is no basis for the dissatisfaction of the Russian side, and the Russian side was called upon not to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan.

It was stated that, unlike the Russian law enforcement agencies, the measures of the Azerbaijani side and the manner of their implementation were completely legal, - Aykhan Hajizada noted.

In general, it was noted that the mentioned activities and actions carried out by Russia contradict the bilateral relations between the two countries.