Eight Russians have been sentenced to prison terms by a Baku court in drug cases.
Four Russians, arrested amid worsening relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, have been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of illegal drug production and distribution. Another four received three-year sentences.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, in mid-May, Igor Zabolotsky and Ilnur Valitov were sentenced to three years in prison on charges of money laundering obtained through cybercrime. In April, a Baku court sentenced Russian citizen Alexander Vaysero to four years, finding him guilty of money laundering.
On July 1, 2025, a Baku court arrested eight Russian citizens detained on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrime. Moscow hopes that Baku will abandon its excessive and unfair harshness towards the detained Russians, said Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova. According to the indictment, those arrested in an operation related to the transit of drugs from Iran planned to sell the acquired substances in Baku. The eight arrested included 30-year-old developer Dmitry Bezugly from St. Petersburg and 26-year-old Ilya Bezugly from Kaliningrad (no relation), 41-year-old Anton Drachev, 23-year-old Sergei Sofronov, 40-year-old Igor Zabolotskikh, 22-year-old student from St. Petersburg Dmitry Fedorov, 25-year-old psychologist Alexei Vasilchenko and 38-year-old developer Valery Dulov. Another Russian arrested in Azerbaijan was 35-year-old Alexander Vaysero from Yekaterinburg.
The trial of members of a criminal group accused of cyber fraud and other crimes has concluded in Baku. The verdict was announced at a hearing at the Baku Grave Crimes Court, chaired by Judge Firdovsi Aliyev, Oxy.az reported today.
According to the indictment, Safronov (this is the version of his last name given by the Azerbaijani publication - Caucasian Knot) and other members of the group organized a criminal organization engaged in drug trafficking. The case established that they acquired large quantities of heroin, methadone, and the psychotropic substance methamphetamine for subsequent sale in Baku.
They were accused of illegally manufacturing, producing, acquiring, or selling narcotics and psychotropic substances committed by a group of persons acting in concert or by an organized criminal group, as well as on a large scale.
As a result, the court sentenced Sergei Safronov, Anton Drachev, Dmitry Bezugly, and Valery Dulov to four years' imprisonment each. Dmitry Fedorov, Boris Timoshov, Alexey Vasilchenko, and Ilya Bezugly received three-year prison sentences.
The trials of representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg and Russian citizens in Baku are being held simultaneously, but the resolution of the issue related to the AZAL plane crash has paved the way for the search for mechanisms for the release of citizens of both countries, according to analysts in Azerbaijan.
Relations between Moscow and Baku have noticeably deteriorated since the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, en route from Baku to Grozny. More details can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Baku-Grozny Air Crash" and in the article "Geopolitical Confrontation: What the AZAL Plane Crash Led to".
The latest round of deterioration in relations between the two countries has been marked by ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan. Baku accused Russian authorities of extrajudicial reprisals against Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia."
As a reminder, on April 15, official Baku and Moscow reported on the resolution of the consequences of the AZAL plane crash, including the issue of compensation. The cause of the tragedy was determined to be "an unintentional action of the air defense system."