On June 30, seven employees of Sputnik Azerbaijan were arrested, including Igor Kartavykh and Evgeny Belousov, who were detained for four months.
Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, has condemned the actions of Azerbaijan’s security forces, castigating the charges as fabricated and demanding the immediate release of the journalists.
Dmitry Kiselev, General Director of Rossiya Segodnya, described the situation as an injustice and suggested that it appears to be a deliberate attempt to harm Russian-Azerbaijani ties.