The move, reported by Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov, is part of a broader mutual effort to ease tensions
A Russian journalist detained in Azerbaijan amid a recent diplomatic dispute has been released, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov reported on Friday.
Igor Kartavyh, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, was arrested in June on accusations of secretly working for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Ushakov told Kommersant that the decision to release him was made ahead of Thursday’s meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Sputnik’s Baku office, whose operations were suspended following the crackdown, has not yet issued an official statement on Kartavyh’s release.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Kartavyh had been moved to house arrest earlier this week, adding that Russian diplomats had provided continuous support during his detention.
According to Ushakov, the journalist’s release was part of a reciprocal diplomatic arrangement under which an Azerbaijani national was freed in Russia. Kommersant identified the individual as Mamedali Agayev, a former Moscow theater director arrested in August on embezzlement charges.
Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan deteriorated following a deadly incident involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. The aircraft, damaged near Grozny during a Ukrainian drone raid in December 2024, subsequently crashlanded in Kazakhstan.
Putin addressed the tragedy before his talks with Aliyev, explaining that the crash was likely caused by a Russian missile self-destructing near the plane while air defenses were responding to the Ukrainian attack. He pledged due compensation for the victims and accountability for any possible wrongdoing.
Kartavyh’s detention came amid heightened tensions following a Russian police operation against alleged Azerbaijani criminal groups in the Urals – an action Baku condemned as heavy-handed.
