Russian citizen, employee of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Chulkov has disappeared in Azerbaijan, Gazeta.ru reports citing sources.

Chulkov flew to Ganja on January 3 and reserved a room at a private guesthouse in the city. According to the owner, the researcher wanted to see Lake Goygol, and he advised the guest to take a cab, but Chulkov decided to go there on foot on January 5 and did not return.

There is a military unit on the way to the lake, and Chulkov apparently walked into its territory. After a while, security officers came to the hotel, searched Dmitry's room and took his belongings with them.

On January 9, the military informed the owner of the guesthouse that the Russian citizen had been released, but the latter did not appear at the hotel, nor did he go online or answer phone calls.

"He told his mother that he was leaving for a week, but two days later he was out of reach," a source in the Institute said.

Chulkov was set to depart from Azerbaijan on January 10, but the airline said that he did not make it to the plane. Currently, the scientist’s colleagues and relatives are searching him.