Brother of Azerbaijanis killed in FSB raid calls Russia’s account “absurd”

On July 1, Seyfaddin Huseynli, deputy editor-in-chief of an Azerbaijani newspaper and brother of Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, who were killed during a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) raid in Yekaterinburg on June 27, made a powerful statement condemning the Russian authorities.

Speaking about the forensic examination of his brothers’ bodies, which were repatriated to Baku on June 30, Huseynli said: “During the forensic examination, where I was invited to identify the bodies of my brothers — who were brutally killed by representatives of the Russian security forces in the city of Yekaterinburg and brought to Baku — I witnessed a horrifying scene, which shocked me even more," Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

"The numerous traces of torture on their bodies undeniably prove that the information fabricated and spread by the Russian side regarding the cause of my brothers’ deaths is utter nonsense," he added.

On June 27, a violent raid by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) targeted the Azerbaijani Safarov family in Yekaterinburg, Russia, resulting in significant casualties and detentions. The operation focused on the family’s residences, linked to their ownership of the “Kaspi” restaurant.

The operation’s brutality—resulting in the deaths of Huseyn Safarov (Azerbaijani citizen) and Ziyaddin Safarov (Russian citizen), severe injuries to others, and the detention of nine family members—has raised suspicions of ethnic targeting and political motives.

By Khagan Isayev