Degradation of relations between Moscow and Azerbaijan, Volodymyr Zelensky supports Ilham Aliev
Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are at their Nadir. Azéri media Minval Published three audio recordings on Tuesday, an anonymous letter and an explanatory note written by a man identified as Captain Dmitry Paladichuk, commander of a Russian anti -aircraft defense unit. He declares that he had been ordered to open fire on an air target, which turned out to be the 190AR Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, after having wiped out shots above Grozny, in Chechnya. Thirty-eight people, Out of 67 people on board, were killed. Vladimir Putin had waited three days to present partial apology but without admitting a Russian responsibility.
At the same time, Moscow condemned on Tuesday, the arrest in Azerbaijan of three Russian journalists from the Stutnik State news agency, accused of being FSB agents, the Russian security services, and called for their release. These arrests are “Absolutely incompatible with common standards and rules”said Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, during his daily briefing.
They intervene after the death of two Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin this weekend in Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. On Tuesday, the Azerbaijani prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation for torture and assassination of the two people who died in detention in this city, after their bodies were transferred to Baku for Autopsy. Russia claims that one of the two people succumbed to a heart attack during the police raid, while an investigation was opened to determine the causes of the death of the second.
Moscow also summoned the Azerbaijan ambassador on Tuesday, Russian diplomacy accusing Baku of “Take deliberate measures to dismantle bilateral relations”. Azerbaijan said that his ambassador had expressed his “Serious concern” About the actions “Illegal” Russian police and“Use of torture” during the detention of his fellow citizens.
Using the principle that “the enemies of my enemies are my friends”, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, had a telephone interview with President Azerbaijani, Ilham Aliev. The Ukrainian president thanked his counterpart for his support for Ukraine, his territorial integrity and his people. “I also expressed the clear support of Ukraine in the situation where Russia brutalized the Azerbaijani citizens and threatens the Republic of Azerbaijan”said Voldoymyr Zelensky, in a message on social networks.
