Russia and Azerbaijan Turn Against Each Other: Russian Special Forces Smash Cars in the Street, Arrest Azerbaijani Overseas Leader; Azerbaijan Detains 22 Russian Tourists, All with Injuries on Their Faces
The relationship between Russia and Azerbaijan has rapidly deteriorated within just a few days, and mutual "arrest" actions have also been escalating.
On July 1st local time, several Russian media outlets released a video showing how Shakhin Shahin, head of Azerbaijani overseas affairs in Yekaterinburg, was arrested after refusing to be taken into custody on the street.
The video shows that at that time, several Russian special forces blocked the SUV that Shakhin was driving and asked him to go with them. However, Shakhin's son, who was driving, suddenly reversed to try to escape. The special forces then rushed up and smashed the car's windows, opened the passenger door where Shakhin was sitting, but Shakhin's son also accelerated, knocking down a soldier and almost dragging him under the car.
The Russians became very angry and, while the SUV was blocked by another vehicle, directly smashed the car's windows into pieces, pulled Shakhin off the car, threw him on the ground, and put handcuffs on him.
Russian authorities said they had originally just wanted to summon Shakhin as a witness to further investigate the recent arrest of an Azerbaijani criminal gang. But now he is definitely going to be punished.
After arresting two employees of the Russian satellite communication agency in Azerbaijan the day before, Azerbaijan again arrested 22 Russians (Russian officials say they are all tourists or employees of Russian enterprises) on July 1st. These people looked normal when they were arrested, but when they appeared in court, they all had injuries on their faces, which should be due to beating by Azerbaijani law enforcement. It is expected that this will further deteriorate bilateral relations.
This sudden tension between Russia and Azerbaijan originated from a conflict that occurred on June 27th, when Russian law enforcement agencies clashed while arresting an Azerbaijani criminal group suspected of multiple murder cases, resulting in the deaths of two Azerbaijani citizens. Azerbaijan immediately summoned the Russian ambassador to protest and suspended joint activities between the two countries, and also arrested Russian journalists under the name of "FSB spies". Russia retaliated in kind, immediately taking a series of retaliatory actions against Azerbaijan.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836513044350409/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.