Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Azerbaijani Ambassador Rahman Mustafayev that the actions by Russian security forces in Yekaterinburg, where individuals of Azerbaijani origin were detained, fully complied with Russian legislation.

“The recent arrests in Yekaterinburg of Russian citizens of Azerbaijani descent were conducted in full accordance with Russian law, based on investigations into grave crimes committed in past years across Russian territory, including against Azerbaijani citizens,” the MFA’s statement read.

The Investigative Committee of Russia’s Sverdlovsk region reported that six suspects were detained in Yekaterinburg on June 27, accused of organizing a series of serious crimes in previous years. According to the investigation, the suspects were part of an “ethnic criminal group” involved in murders and attempted murders in 2001, 2010, and 2011.

On June 29, a court ordered the pre-trial detention of three defendants—Ayaz, Akif, and Mazahir Safarov—until July 19.

Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said that, according to preliminary findings, one of the detainees died of heart failure, while the cause of the second death remains under investigation.

Azerbaijan responded by canceling the Milli Majlis delegation’s visit to Moscow and all cultural events involving Russia, citing what Azerbaijani media called “deliberate, demonstrative killings and ethnically motivated violence against Azerbaijanis by Russian law enforcement in Yekaterinburg.”

In turn, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced it had dismantled two “Russian criminal groups” operating on its territory.

Azerbaijani security forces arrested Russian nationals suspected of drug trafficking and cyber fraud. Footage from the operation has been released, according to Trend.

The detainees are citizens of the Russian Federation.