Azerbaijani police have detained two Russian FSB agents who were working undercover at the Sputnik propaganda agency in Baku.
On Monday morning, Azerbaijani security forces carried out an operation at the office of the Sputnik Azerbaijan agency, the local division of the Russian media holding Rossiya Segodnya.
As reported by the APA agency, as a result of the special operation, two FSB officers working in the editorial office were detained.
The incident occurred after Azerbaijan suspended Sputnik Azerbaijan in February. The decision was intended to ensure parity in the presence of state media: the number of the agency's journalists in Baku was to match the number of representatives of the Azerbaijani agency AZERTAC in Russia. However, Sputnik's editorial staff continued to work, ignoring the government's order.
A new diplomatic scandal has erupted amid worsening relations between Baku and Moscow. Russian media previously reported on the mass detention of more than 50 people of Azerbaijani origin in the Sverdlovsk region of the Russian Federation. The detention is allegedly related to a 2001 case, and two people died during the investigation.
In response, Azerbaijan announced the complete cancellation of Russian cultural events on its territory. As explained in Baku, this is a reaction to the actions of Russian security forces, which are considered ethnically motivated and violent in Azerbaijan.
