UN confirms awareness of tensions over Azerbaijani civilians killed in Russia

The United Nations is aware of growing tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia following the reported deaths of two Azerbaijani civilians at the hands of Russian security forces, according to UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Responding to a question from a journalist with the Report’s American bureau, Dujarric confirmed that the UN is monitoring the situation:

“We are fully aware of the tensions between Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation arising from a number of incidents, including the one you refer to,” he said. “We are closely monitoring the incidents occurring in both countries. We hope that all these issues will be resolved through diplomatic channels.”

The incident in question occurred on June 27 in the city of Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia. According to earlier reports, two Azerbaijani civilians — Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov — were tortured and killed during an operation conducted by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The two victims were brothers of Seyfaddin Huseynli, a prominent Azerbaijani journalist.

During the same FSB raid, several other individuals were seriously injured, and nine people were detained.

Despite the gravity of the allegations, the UN has not yet issued a formal statement condemning the incident or demanding clarification from Moscow. When asked specifically why such a statement had not been made, Dujarric reiterated the UN’s awareness of the incident but offered no details on whether the organisation had formally approached Russian authorities on the matter.

No further comments or updates were provided by the UN regarding any ongoing communications with the Russian Federation.

By Tamilla Hasanova