On Monday, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry announced an "operation" at the office of the Sputnik news agency in Baku, adding that the office still does not have connection with Moscow. Later in the day, the office said that two Russian journalists Igor Kartavykh, head of the editorial board of Sputnik Azerbaijan, and editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov had been detained by Azerbaijani security forces in Baku on absurd charges.
According to local media reports, they are accused of being "agents of the FSB."
Russian embassy staff were not allowed access to the detainees.