Criminal case initiated against Sputnik Azerbaijan: 7 detained in Baku raid

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has initiated a criminal case targeting the Baku branch of the news agency Russia Today (Sputnik Azerbaijan), resulting in multiple detentions.

Following a series of operational-search measures conducted at the agency’s Baku office, seven individuals were detained in connection with allegations of fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and the legalization of property obtained through criminal means, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Among those apprehended, two have been formally arrested, while the remaining five face criminal charges.

The Interior Ministry’s investigative activities remain ongoing as authorities continue to probe the case. The operation follows a similar enforcement action carried out on June 30 at the same news agency’s local branch.

Azerbaijani law enforcement authorities detained two senior figures from the Sputnik Azerbaijan editorial office on June 30 as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged illegal activities linked to the agency.

Those taken into custody were Igor Kartavykh, head of the editorial office of Sputnik Azerbaijan, and Yevgeny Belousov, editor-in-chief.

Kartavykh and Belousov are reportedly accused of collaborating with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), a charge that, if substantiated, could carry significant diplomatic and legal consequences.

In February 2025, Caliber.Az obtained exclusive information revealing Azerbaijan’s decision to rebalance the presence of foreign media outlets operating within the country. This initiative specifically targeted the operations of Sputnik Azerbaijan, a branch of the Russian MIA "Russia Today" (RT), and the BBC’s Azerbaijani service.

To address a disparity in media representation between Azerbaijan and Russia, the Azerbaijani government mandated that the number of Russian state media correspondents working in Azerbaijan be equal to the number of Azerbaijani state media correspondents operating in Russia. Currently, this translates to just one correspondent each.

Sputnik Azerbaijan, which employed approximately 40 staff members in Baku, was ordered to close its branch. RT’s activities in Azerbaijan were to be limited to a single correspondent operating under Azerbaijani law and the bilateral agreement on media correspondents signed in 2001.

Despite these earlier restrictions, recent reports indicate that Sputnik Azerbaijan continued some level of operation, prompting the authorities to conduct a special police operation and take control of the agency’s Baku office.

By Vafa Guliyeva