Moscow-Baku coordination leads to release of Sputnik Azerbaijan chief Azerbaijani citizen freed in exchange / UPDATED

Representatives of the Russian Embassy in Baku have paid a visit to journalist Igor Kartavykh, who was recently placed under house arrest.

The update was confirmed by Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to TASS.

12:09

Former director of the Moscow Academic Satire Theatre, Mammadali Aghayev, has been released from custody in Russia, Kommersant sources reported.

The release occurred concurrently with the transfer of Igor Kartavykh, executive director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, to house arrest in Azerbaijan.

12:03

The preventive measure for Sputnik Azerbaijan editorial chief Igor Kartavykh has been changed to house arrest, Director General of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, Dmitry Kiselev, confirmed.

Kiselev told RIA Novosti, “The head of Sputnik Azerbaijan, Igor Kartavykh, has had his preventive measure changed to house arrest. He is now in Baku.”

11:17

The executive director of Sputnik Azerbaijan, Igor Kartavykh, who had been arrested in Baku, has been released. 

In a reciprocal move, the Russian side also freed an Azerbaijani citizen who had been detained on Russian territory, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed to Kommersant.

According to reports, the negotiations were conducted primarily at the level of presidential aides. Ushakov worked directly with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Hikmet Hajiyev, and the decision to release Kartavykh was made on the eve of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe.

Political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov noted that the aides had the ability to coordinate the process directly with both presidents, which Ushakov cited as the key factor that made Kartavykh’s release possible.

By Tamilla Hasanova