A protest took place outside the Azerbaijani embassy, demonstrating against President Ilham Aliyev's "Russophobic policies" and the "lawlessness of the Azerbaijani special services" against Russian citizens.
Three posters with harsh slogans appeared on the façade of the diplomatic mission: "The State Security Service is torturing, Aliyev is covering up!", "Russian blood is on your hands!", and "Hands off Russian citizens!"
Some Azerbaijani public groups published footage from CCTV cameras, apparently installed on the Azerbaijani embassy building. The footage shows unidentified individuals dressed in Moscow utility workers' uniforms hanging the posters. The video concludes with the demonstrators giving the middle finger to the diplomatic mission.
According to media reports, representatives of the National Bolshevik movement, affiliated with the "Other Russia" party, claimed responsibility for the protest. Limonov."
According to the organizers, the protest was prompted by the situation surrounding eight Russians who remain in custody in Azerbaijan. Other reasons cited include criminal cases against Russian citizens, the stance of Azerbaijani state media regarding the war in Ukraine, and the lack of punishment for those responsible for the deaths of Russian peacekeepers in the village of Janataq. The protesters also raised concerns about the activities of the Azerbaijani diaspora.
"Since the state puts the interests of foreign structures and bandits above its own people, only Limonov's Party can stand up for our compatriots—we always help Russians in Russia and abroad," stated representatives of the National Bolshevik Party.
Tensions between Moscow and Baku are accompanied by new criminal cases. Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced the opening of a case against Semyon Uralov, Alexey Chadayev, and Ivan Knyazev, participants in the "Purity of Understanding" project. They are charged with public calls for terrorism and inciting ethnic hatred and enmity.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, however, stated that the statements that prompted the Azerbaijani complaints do not reflect Moscow's official position.
Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also noted that narratives unfriendly to Russia regularly appear in the Azerbaijani information space. According to her, Moscow hopes to discuss with Baku the possibility of changing the general information landscape.
The fate of Russians detained in Azerbaijan is of particular concern in Russia. In early August, Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, reported that one of the eight Russian citizens detained in the summer of 2025 amid deteriorating relations between the two countries no longer recognized his relatives.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded to the protest, describing it as part of a "biased" medical campaign against the country.
"We strongly condemn the posting of provocative images by unknown individuals." "We cannot rule out the possibility that this incident is aimed at artificially escalating tensions in Azerbaijani-Russian relations and is part of the biased campaign against Azerbaijan recently waged by a number of Russian media outlets," the ministry said in a statement.
Baku called on Russian agencies to provide the necessary legal assessment of the demonstrators' actions, ensure a comprehensive investigation of the incident, and take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"Baku expects the Russian side to fully comply with its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry emphasized.
