Azerbaijan
Imprisoned head of Sputnik Azerbaijan released and sent back to Russia
The move comes as Azerbaijan and Russia appear to be mending their relations after a year of heightened tensions.
Nate Ostiller
Nate joined OC Media as an editor after a year at The Kyiv Independent, where he covered Ukraine, Russia, and the South Caucasus. He has a background in grant writing and reporting on post-Soviet geopolitics, with a focus on conflict-sensitive journalism and human rights.
Azerbaijan
Former Azerbaijani ‘gray cardinal’ accused of plotting to kill Aliyev
Ramiz Mehdiyev, a longtime confidant of former President Heydar Aliyev, was arrested and charged with treason on Tuesday.
MMA
Russian UFC champions Yan and Chimaev clash over nationality question
Petr Yan said he wouldn’t recognise Chechen fighter Khamzat Chimaev as a ‘Russian UFC champion’ because he fights under the UAE flag.
Azerbaijan
Russia revokes citizenship of Azerbaijani diaspora head in Ulyanovsk
As a result, Islam Huseynov also faces deportation from Russia.
OC Insider
As Azerbaijan and Russia apparently make up, have we learned anything?
After almost a year of plummeting relations, Azerbaijan and Russia seem like they have ended their very public beef. At a meeting in Dushanbe earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised, on camera, to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane crash in December 2024 — the incident that had set off the chain of escalating tit-for-tat actions between Moscow and Baku. In a delicately-worded admission of guilt, Putin acknowledged that the
Azerbaijan–Russia Relations
Explainer | Have Russia and Azerbaijan buried the hatchet?
Azerbaijan and Russia have been at odds since the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in December 2024, which Baku has blamed on Russian air-defence missiles.
