Moscow responds to arrest of Russian journalists in Azerbaijan

The Kremlin is closely monitoring the situation and hopes to secure the release of the detained reporters, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

Moscow hopes to secure the release of Russian journalists detained in Azerbaijan as soon as possible, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. Three reporters were arrested in Baku during a police raid on the office of Sputnik Azerbaijan earlier this week.

Authorities detained the head of Sputnik’s editorial office, Igor Kartavykh, editor-in-chief Evgeny Belousov, and an editor for the Ruptly video news agency, Aytekin Guseynova. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry said it had targeted the Sputnik office after receiving information about alleged “illegal financing.”

Commenting on the incident, Peskov said Moscow is closely monitoring the situation and takes the detention of Russian journalists “very seriously.”

“We expect that very soon, through direct contacts with the Azerbaijani side, we will be able to achieve their release,” Peskov stated. He added that such measures against representatives of the press “do not conform to commonly accepted rules and standards” and do not represent the “the spirit and nature of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.”

The Kremlin spokesman described Baku’s actions as an “extremely emotional reaction” and expressed hope that questions would be answered through direct communication.

Monday’s arrests followed a police operation in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg last week, during which authorities detained several members of an alleged Azerbaijani criminal group. Two suspects died during the raid – one reportedly of a heart attack and the other of unspecified causes.

READ MORE: Third Russian journalist detained in Azerbaijan

Officials in Baku expressed outrage over the incident. They canceled multiple cultural events associated with Russia and conducted a police raid on the Sputnik office, during which the three Russian journalists were detained. Two of them have been accused of being agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has since summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador in Moscow, Rakhman Mustafaev, in protest against the detentions. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has described Baku’s actions as “hostile” and unlawful.”

Dmitry Kiselev, head of the Rossiya Segodnya media group that operates Sputnik, has also condemned the detentions as unjustified, noting that no objections had previously been raised about the editorial work of Sputnik Azerbaijan.

Kiselev said the journalists were being treated “as though they were terrorists,” and called the accusations that they were FSB agents “absurd.”