Azerbaijani Press Council accuses Russia of weaponising media for political interference statement

The Azerbaijani Press Council has issued a scathing statement to the international community in response to a letter from the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), which commented on the detention of several staff members from the Baku bureau of Russia’s Sputnik news agency in June 2025.

The media organisation published its statement in Russian on its official website on July 12, with Caliber.Az providing an English translation for its readers:

"In recent years, the Russian Federation has been increasingly using the mass media as a tool for foreign policy influence. Under the disguise of informational activities, large-scale campaigns are being carried out to shape public opinion and destabilise the political situation in sovereign states. Such actions, constituting interference in the internal affairs of other countries, undermine the functioning of local public institutions and erode trust in authorities. This practice is particularly evident in the activities of the Russian news agency Sputnik and its staff.

In response to the open letter issued by the Russian Union of Journalists that was addressed to international organisations, as well as journalism and human rights associations, protesting the arrest of Sputnik Azerbaijan employees, we find it necessary to present the international community with an objective account of the events.

First and foremost, the [Russian] letter contains a gross distortion of facts, clearly indicative of an attempt to manipulate international public opinion. Contrary to the claims made in the open letter, the detention of Sputnik Azerbaijan’s Director Igor Kartavykh and Editor-in-Chief Yevgeny Belousov is in no way connected to their professional activities in the field of journalism. It must be emphasised that these individuals were cooperating with the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation and were present in Azerbaijan with aims unrelated to journalistic activity. Therefore, their detention is a lawful measure undertaken fully in accordance with national legislation and within the framework of the rule of law.

In order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the situation, we would like to draw attention to the fact that Sputnik Azerbaijan had previously been headed for several years by Vitaly Denisov — a career officer of the Russian intelligence services with close ties to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). Before this, he was in charge of Sputnik South Ossetia and later Sputnik Moldova. In these roles, he orchestrated informational and propaganda campaigns aimed at promoting the pro-Kremlin agenda, leveraging media resources in these regions to serve the interests of Russian intelligence.

Due to his subversive activities, Denisov was expelled from both Azerbaijan and Moldova — a fact that further underscores how activities carried out under the guise of journalism often pursue objectives far removed from informing the public. Rather, they constitute coordinated efforts at influence and interference that pose a threat to the national security of the host countries.

These methods that are being employed by intelligence agencies, such as the use of pseudo-media entities like Sputnik as tools, are part of a broader hybrid strategy aimed at destabilizing sovereign states. This has been confirmed by numerous international reports from leading organisations such as the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, EUvsDisinfo, and the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). These reports highlight that Sputnik functions not merely as a news agency, but as a central instrument in Russia’s disinformation campaigns designed to interfere in the internal political affairs of other countries.

In this context, the international response to Sputnik’s activities is both understandable and justified: the agency has been officially banned or blocked in 32 countries, including all 27 EU member states, as well as Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia.

It is deeply perplexing that the RUJ, rather than seriously addressing the pressing issues of the persecution of journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech within its own country, effectively overlooks these critical matters. Numerous instances of arrests of independent media representatives and systematic pressure exerted on them are relegated to the margins of public and political discourse.

Released data from international journalism and human rights organisations confirm the gravity of the situation, which indicate that more than 50 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992. There are well-founded suspicions that many of these cases were directly linked to their professional activities. Moreover, between 2019 and 2024, at least 26 journalists were detained or arrested in the country, clearly illustrating the ongoing systemic issues surrounding freedom of speech and independent journalism.

Reports by international human rights organisations consistently highlight the large-scale decline of independent reporting in Russia, with experts estimating a decrease of approximately 60–70%. Similar conclusions are drawn in publications by reputable sources, pointing to a systemic and deeply entrenched trend toward the suppression of free expression in the country.

The high-profile cases involving the murders of prominent journalists such as Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Pavel Sheremet, Paul Klebnikov, and many others remain unsolved to this day, largely due to their politically motivated nature. Since the start of Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine, media censorship has intensified significantly. Alternative viewpoints are actively suppressed, and journalists who attempt to express independent opinions are facing persecution and arrest.

Despite these facts, the RUJ prefers to voice support for individuals suspected of espionage, rather than showing equal determination in defending independent journalists who face genuine threats within their own country.

In the case regarding the detention of employees from the 'Sputnik Azerbaijan' agency—which, in reality, was nothing more than a branch of the Russian Federal Security Service, international journalism and human rights organizations must first re-evaluate the relations between allegedly independent media associations, such as the RUJ, with Russia's intelligence services. These ties  point to a troubling transformation of such organisations into tools of political influence and informational manipulation.

We call on international journalism and human rights institutions to respond appropriately to such acts of informational subversion and to firmly condemn the use of media as a political weapon."