When propaganda runs wild Russia’s threatening “special military operation” rhetoric against Azerbaijan

Blatantly rude and provocative statements directed at Azerbaijan have long been voiced by Russian politicians, propagandists, and so-called “experts of wide profile.” This has been going on ever since Russia shot down the AZAL airline plane operating flight J2-8243 on the Baku–Grozny route, resulting in the death of 38 people.

Official Baku has repeatedly pointed out that there is irrefutable evidence of Russia’s responsibility for the crash of the Azerbaijani airliner. However, in Moscow, they not only chose to deny the obvious but also deemed it acceptable to resort to insults and threats against our country. Yet this was only the beginning of the chain of events that led to the cooling of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

Next came the persecution of representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia. For example, during a raid by Russian law enforcement agencies in Yekaterinburg, the Safarov brothers died, one of whom was a citizen of Azerbaijan. There is evidence that they died from torture, and that many other Azerbaijanis living in Russia were subjected to beatings and blackmail.

All this took place against the backdrop of a growing wave of aggressive anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric on Russian TV channels. The peak of this hysteria was statements about the inevitability of a Russian-Azerbaijani war. And, of course, the main promoter of this “brilliant idea” was Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who has long been under EU and US sanctions.

“It is necessary to understand that what is happening in the South Caucasus is a very big problem. And soon, the Caspian Sea could end up in a situation where NATO bases might appear there. This is so dangerous that, from a geopolitical perspective, it could lead to consequences where this might not be the last special military operation of our generation. Therefore, all possible diplomatic methods must be employed to make all participants understand that Russia’s interests must be respected,” he stated in his speculative conclusion on the Russia 1 TV channel.

And here I would like to remind something. At one time, the same Solovyov spoke about how, during a conversation with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, he was struck by the calm strength of our head of state. He said then that President Aliyev is a profound, educated statesman who feels a tremendous responsibility toward his country. All the more striking, then, is that now Solovyov is talking about the prospects of a war between Russia and our country.

However, this is not the first such “encore” performance by Vladimir Rudolfovich. We clearly remember his other antics, for which he has apologised to our country more than once. It all started when, on the Russian state radio Vesti FM, he introduced the well-known separatist David Babayan as the “Foreign Minister of Artsakh.” Incidentally, this “leader” now regularly gives “interviews” as a defendant in the Baku Military Court.

And now Solovyov is once again stepping on the same rake at the behest of his Kremlin handlers. If tomorrow they order him to apologize again for threats against our country, he will obediently and wholeheartedly perform a public act of repentance, offering yet another apology to Azerbaijan. As the saying goes, any whim for your money, gentlemen — which naturally invites comparisons between Solovyov and people with low social responsibility. But apparently, such an analogy does not bother him in the least.

Following in his footsteps was Lieutenant General of the reserve and State Duma deputy from United Russia, Andrey Gurulyov, who in February 2025 was asked to leave the Duma Defense Committee for his “extraordinary freedom of thought.”

An obvious alcohol abuser, Gurulyov, went so far as to openly express a desire for the return of the Stalinist repression period. After that, he was no longer invited to Russian propaganda shows. Presumably, this is why this general—who in 2013 faced criminal charges for “abuse of official power” — ended up spouting his anti-Azerbaijani nonsense from inside his own car.

It’s really not very smart to spoil relations with such a major neighbour as Russia. And if Azerbaijani goods disappear from Russian shelves, I don’t think much will change for us. But for them, it will be a big change. A very big change. And if we put pressure on some of the guys here involved in questionable businesses, then the change will be even more significant. And if they still don’t get the message, then there’s another way. The term ‘special military operation’ is flexible—flexible all along the border of the Russian Federation, Gurulyov declared.

All these gems of his reek of the Russian provinces, where marginal personalities, at best sitting in a communal apartment kitchen half-drunk, allow themselves to pontificate about the advantages of a multipolar world over a unipolar one.

And one more thing: if Gurulyov has started talking about his experience as a racketeer and a “pincher,” then this topic really needs to be explored fully. We believe that would be far more interesting than his ridiculous threats against Azerbaijan.

Why call them ridiculous? Because the whole world sees how, in three and a half years since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army — suffering enormous losses in personnel and equipment — has failed to achieve the goals set by the country’s top leadership. And it never will. Its “ceiling” is limited to launching missile and drone strikes against peaceful Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, including targets belonging to Azerbaijan.

And Russia is unlikely to start a war with Azerbaijan, whose well-equipped army has a proven record of victory. Especially since the puppeteers behind Solovyov and Gurulyov are well aware of the essence of the Shusha Declaration, which effectively equates an attack on Azerbaijan with an attack on Türkiye. So, to borrow Gurulyov’s words, the term “special military operation” may end up being a flexible concept for a military-political fiasco for Russia. And Moscow understands this perfectly well.