Baku: Several individuals have been detained during a police operation at the office of “Sputnik Azerbaijan,” the Baku branch of Russia’s ‘Rossiya Segodnya’ International News Agency. The operation was conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, leading to the detention of two employees of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who were working at the agency.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated the operation at the Baku office of “Sputnik Azerbaijan” earlier this morning. The move comes after a decision was made in February to suspend the operations of ‘Sputnik Azerbaijan’ to ensure parity between Azerbaijan’s state media operating abroad and foreign journalists working in Azerbaijan. The decision aimed to balance the number of journalists working for “Sputnik Azerbaijan” in Baku with the number of AZERTAC journalists stationed in Russia.
Despite this decision, the editorial office of “Sputnik Azerbaijan” did not comply and continued its operations and staff activity. The recent police operation and subsequent detentions have brought renewed attention to the ongoing tensions surrounding the agency’s presence and activities in Azerbaijan.