The leader of the Azerbaijani community in the Moscow region announced on Friday that Russian officials have revoked his citizenship, stating that he intends to return to Azerbaijan as diplomatic tensions between the two nations escalate.
A video posted late Thursday by a Telegram channel operating anonymously seemed to show officials informing Elshan Ibragimov that his Russian citizenship had been annulled retroactively effective June 18.
A Telegram news outlet, Ostorozhno Novosti, confirmed the video’s authenticity with Ibragimov, who chose not to make any further comments. Azerbaijani media reported that Ibragimov intends to share more information upon his arrival in Azerbaijan “in a few days.”
According to unnamed sources referenced by the RBC news agency, Ibragimov is being deported for “actions that pose a threat to Russia’s national security.”
By Friday afternoon, Ibragimov’s profile was removed from the Moscow region’s public commission website, where he was listed as the head of the regional Azerbaijani cultural organization and a member of the regional council for national cultural groups.
Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have reached a significant low this week following a series of police operations in Russia aimed at ethnic Azerbaijanis linked to murders from the early 2000s.
During mass arrests in Yekaterinburg, two Azerbaijani men lost their lives, while six others were charged with murder and attempted murder and have been placed in pre-trial detention. A local leader of the Azerbaijani diaspora was also violently apprehended but released after being questioned as a witness.
In response, Baku has initiated a criminal investigation into the deaths of the two men, alleging that Russian law enforcement engaged in torture and intentional killings, while Moscow has accused Azerbaijan of meddling in its domestic law enforcement issues.
In what seems to be an retaliatory move, Azerbaijani officials stated that they have detained at least 10 Russian citizens, including two employees of the Kremlin-funded Sputnik news agency, while the others are accused of cybercrime and drug trafficking.
Amid the escalating conflict, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, called for calm on Thursday and blamed “certain external forces” for attempting to create a rift in the “strategic alliance” between the two countries.
