Tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan rise, Kremlin condemns arrests

30/6/2025 19:34

Tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan rose on Monday after the Kremlin said it disagreed with a decision by Azerbaijan to cancel Russian cultural events in response to the arrest in Russia of ethnic Azerbaijanis suspected of serious crimes.



Investigators in the Russian industrial city of Yekaterinburg conducted a slew of raids last week in connection with historic unsolved crimes, including serial killings. They said they had detained six people, all of whom had Russian passports, but they also said two suspects had died.



One of the suspects died of heart failure, investigators said in a statement, and medical tests would reveal the cause of death of another suspect.



Baku has accused the Russian police of carrying out extrajudicial killings "on ethnic grounds", an allegation Moscow has rejected.