Forensic examination reveals severe trauma in deaths of brothers killed in Russian FSB raid

The bodies of the Safarov brothers, who were killed during a violent raid by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Yekaterinburg, have undergone forensic examination revealing multiple severe injuries inconsistent with initial reports. 

Azerbaijani Health Ministry’s Forensic Medical Examination and Pathological Anatomy Association Director General Adalat Hasanov announced the findings at a press conference, Caliber.Az reports. 

The bodies of the Safarov brothers were delivered to the forensic examination around 10:00 p.m. Baku time on June 30. 

According to Hasanov, the forensic examination, which lasted over two hours, showed that Huseyn Safarov, born in 1966, died from trauma. According to the Russian forensic expert Kseniya Valeryevna Gracheva, his death was caused by trauma from a blunt object under unclear circumstances. However, Azerbaijani experts identified multiple displaced rib fractures, chest cavity deformation with damage to the pleura and lungs (pneumothorax), facial hematomas, extensive bruising on the body, and internal abdominal injuries. The Azerbaijani conclusion determined the cause of death as trauma leading to traumatic and post-traumatic shock.

Regarding the younger brother, Ziyaddin Safarov (born 1970), Russian forensic expert Stepan Andreyevich Teretyagin had listed the cause of death as acute ischemic heart disease with pulmonary edema. 

Contradicting this, Azerbaijani experts found blunt chest trauma, rib fractures including a missing rib, internal bleeding, facial bruising, and chest cavity deformation. Their conclusion established that Ziyaddin died from multiple injuries and severe post-traumatic shock.

The Safarov brothers’ bodies were transported from Yekaterinburg and arrived in Baku at 8:30 p.m. local time on June 30. Prior to the transfer, they were held at the Bureau of Forensic Medical Expertise morgue in Yekaterinburg.

On June 27, a forceful operation by Russia’s FSB and the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) targeted the Safarov family in Yekaterinburg. The raid focused on properties linked to the family’s ownership of the “Kaspi” restaurant. The crackdown resulted in the deaths of Huseyn Safarov, an Azerbaijani citizen, and his younger brother Ziyaddin, a Russian citizen, along with serious injuries to other family members and the detention of nine relatives. The harshness of the raid has sparked allegations of ethnic targeting and political motivations.

Following the incident, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires in Baku, Pyotr Volokovikh, demanding explanations for the operation and the fatalities.

By Sabina Mammadli