The Ryazan Regional Court sentenced a native of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Lukinskaya, to five years in prison under the article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This criminal article, which provides for three to eight years of imprisonment, was introduced in Russia in 2022. Details of the case are classified.

Lukinskaya, who lived in Russia for a long time, worked at the Ryazan pipe plant and at the heavy forging and pressing equipment plant and was engaged in business.

The sentence was handed down against the backdrop of an increase in complaints against ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian regions, which Baku regards as "extrajudicial killings".

Tensions in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan arose after a high-profile air crash that occurred in late 2024. On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijani passenger airliner Embraer 190, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. It is known that there were 67 people on board, of which 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 of Russia, 6 of Kazakhstan and 3 of Kyrgyzstan. 29 passengers survived.

Moscow hid the reasons for the plane crash for a long time. However, the dominant version was that it came under fire from Russian air defense systems during an attack by Ukrainian drones on the territory of Chechnya. This opinion is also shared by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in connection with which he demanded that the Russian Federation admit guilt, punish the perpetrators and pay compensation.