The media reported the appointment of Vidadi Mustafayev as the "head" of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg. However, according to APA, which is close to the State Committee of Azerbaijan for Work with Diaspora, Mustafayev has no connection to the community and was elected by an unknown group to an unspecified structure.

According to the results of the investigations, he is an informant for Russian security forces and is involved in corruption schemes and the fabrication of criminal cases. It is also reported that he was previously held accountable for economic crimes.

Recall that the current head of the diaspora, Shahin Shikhlinsky, was arrested in Yekaterinburg. On August 1, 2025, he, who had previously taken refuge in the Azerbaijani embassy, ​​voluntarily surrendered to Russian security forces.

It is noteworthy that cases of persecution of leaders of the Azerbaijani diaspora have become more frequent in Russia. Thus, the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Chelyabinsk region, Arshad Khankishiyev, was deprived of Russian citizenship. In addition, Yusif Khalilov, the leader of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Voronezh, was arrested.

Recall that on June 27 in Yekaterinburg, employees of the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB detained citizens of Azerbaijan and persons of Azerbaijani origin. They were suspected of involvement in previously committed crimes. Some of them were tortured, two died - these are 60-year-old Guseyn Safarov and his brother, 55-year-old Ziyaddin Safarov. Baku also noted that other detainees were tortured. Six people were sent to pretrial detention. Subsequently, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan opened a criminal case on the fact of torture and premeditated murder with particular cruelty of two citizens of the country and persons of Azerbaijani origin by law enforcement officers of Russia.