Azerbaijan later reportedly canceled all cultural events linked to Russia “due to the demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azeris,” the country’s Culture Ministry stated.
The Russian Investigative Committee of the Sverdlovsk region, whose capital is Yekaterinburg, admitted two suspects had indeed died during their arrest, but claimed the detained Azeris were Russian citizens.
“One of the defendants died as a result of heart failure; the cause of death of the second person is currently being established,” said committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko. She said the group that had been targeted was suspected of organizing a murder in 2001 and of attempted murders in 2010 and 2011.
The investigative committee claimed it had arrested only six suspects, but local media reported that subsequent beatings resulted in severe injuries to at least three of them.
On Monday the Azeri Interior Ministry responded with a raid on Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local branch of the Russia Today state media holding, and arrested two officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service who had been working for the media channel.
The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed the detainees were journalists and summoned the Azeri ambassador “in connection with the unfriendly actions of Baku.”