Eight Russian citizens jailed in Baku

PanARMENIAN.Net - Eight Russian citizens detained in Baku have been sentenced to prison on charges of “transiting and distributing narcotics from Iran” as well as “cyber fraud,” Azerbaijani media reported on June 19.

Sergey Sofronov, Anton Drachev, Dmitry Bezuglin and Valery Dulov were each sentenced to four years in prison. Dmitry Fyodorov, Boris Timoshov, Alexey Vasilchenko and Ilya Bezuglin received three-year prison terms, according to Deutsche Welle.

According to a relative of one of the convicted men, the ruling was issued by a court of first instance. The relative said family members remain in a state of uncertainty and do not know what developments may follow. Asked whether the defendants would appeal, a source cited by Agentstvo replied: “This is not the best option. It would only prolong the process, but not filing an appeal is also impossible.”

According to Agentstvo, many of the defendants were allegedly forced through violence and threats against their relatives to provide false testimony regarding drug purchases.

The court proceedings began on April 3. The first verdicts were issued in April. At that time, a court in Baku sentenced Yekaterinburg resident Alexander Vaysero to four years in prison in a case involving the legalization of criminal proceeds. In mid-May, Russian citizens Igor Zabolotskikh and Ilnur Valitov were each sentenced to three years in prison.

The Russian citizens were detained amid deteriorating relations between Baku and Moscow following mass arrests of members of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg on allegations linked to organized crime.

Diplomatic tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia began after the crash of a passenger aircraft operated by AZAL in December 2024. A new phase of the crisis began in late June 2025, when large-scale arrests were carried out in Yekaterinburg as part of investigations into old criminal cases. Among those detained were brothers Huseyn Safarov and Ziyaddin Safarov, who died shortly afterward in custody. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case on charges of premeditated murder and blamed Russian law enforcement officers for their deaths.

According to Azerbaijani forensic experts, 60-year-old Huseyn Safarov suffered a broken nose, chest injuries, hemorrhaging in the groin area, ruptures of the pleura and lungs, and injuries to the liver and peritoneum. Multiple bruises and abrasions were reportedly found on the body of 55-year-old Ziyaddin Safarov, including in the areas of the kidneys and genitals. One of his ribs was missing, while the remaining ribs were fractured.

On April 13, 2026, a court in Yekaterinburg sentenced former Azerbaijani diaspora leader in the Urals Shahin Shikhlinski to 24 years in prison. The sentence combined convictions related to a 2001 murder, a 2011 attempted murder, and violence against a law enforcement officer.