Yekaterinburg Azerbaijani diaspora head's case moves to court under Armenian-led investigation

Final charges have been brought against  head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg and Russian citizen Shahin Shikhlinski, currently in detention, and the case has been sent to court for consideration.

Statements in the criminal case against Shahin Shikhlinski were taken by A.S. Karapetyan, a senior investigator for particularly important cases at the Russian Investigative Committee, a justice major of Armenian origin, Caliber.Az reports via local media. 

Notably, during the incident that occurred on July 1, 2025, testimony against Shikhlinski was also given by another employee of the Internal Ministry of Armenian origin, Karen Kamoyevich Tutuntsyan.

“Upon reviewing the investigation materials, it is evident that the criminal case against Shahin Shikhlinski has been conducted in a one-sided and biased manner, and that there are a significant number of contradictory points in the charges brought against him," a source in Russia said. 

It should be noted that a criminal case has been opened against Shikhlinski under Article 318 of the Russian Criminal Code (use of violence against a representative of authority), as well as on charges of attempted contract killing.

In June 2025, Russian law enforcement agencies carried out an operation targeting Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. The operation involved the use of force, resulting in the deaths of two Azerbaijani brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, from injuries sustained during the raids. Other members of the Safarov family, along with several other Azerbaijani nationals, were detained by court order.

They were charged with crimes allegedly committed in 2001, 2010, and 2011.

Later in Yekaterinburg, Shahin Shikhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora, and his son Mutvali Shikhlinski were also detained. 

Law enforcement officers wearing military uniforms, masks, and without identification insignia blocked the car in which Shikhlinski was traveling in the middle of the street and, using force, dragged Shikhlinski and his son out of the vehicle, threw them to the ground, and handcuffed them. Mutvali Shikhlinski was released 15 minutes after his detention, while Shahin Shikhlinski was released after several hours of questioning at the Investigative Department.

Subsequently, law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case against the Shikhlinskis on charges of using violence against a representative of the state during their detention. In this criminal case, Mutvali Shikhlinski was detained on July 16 and placed in pretrial detention. Shahin Shikhlinski was declared wanted.

On August 2, Shahin Shikhlinski was detained in Moscow and transferred to Yekaterinburg.