Azerbaijan puts Russian lawmaker on wanted list

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has put Russian State Duma member Mikhail Delyagin on an international wanted list, opening charges against him following his statements against Baku's actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, TASS reports.

A number of charges were placed by the Azeri Prosecutor General's Office, such as incitement, and Baku has asked a number of allied countries to detain the lawmaker should he enter their territory, The Jerusalem Post says.

Delyagin on Tuesday spoke to the Russian state TV channel Channel 1 and called for Azerbaijan to be punished for recently reported actions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan has broken into Nagorno-Karabakh, and the incursion has left three Armenian soldiers dead and at least 14 others injured. On March 24, Azerbaijan stormed into the zone of the responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the area and is refusing to completely withdraw its forces from strategic heights.

Russia accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire with its recent actions.

This, in turn, was reflected by Delyagin's comments.

Azerbaijan needed to be punished for its aggression, he said on Channel 1, and even went so far as to say the use of nuclear weapons on the Azeri oil industry should be considered. Later, Delyagin took to his Telegram channel and conducted a poll on nuking Azeri oil.

Delyagin did later apologize for his remarks but specified that much of his outrage was directed to a part of the Azeri government and bureaucracy, specifically noting how despite Russia's Defense Ministry reporting that Azeri troops had returned to the pre-March 24 positions, they in fact did no such thing.