Azerbaijan Shuts Down Rossiya Sevodnya (Sputnik) News Office

The representative office of "Rossiya Sevodnya" (Sputnik) in Azerbaijan has been liquidated, according to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade in response to an inquiry, Orda reports, citing Report.az.

Hajizade stated that the Russian media company can now only receive accreditation for one correspondent in Azerbaijan.

Last week, The BBC  announced it was making a "forced decision" to close its Baku office following verbal instructions from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

In early February, Russian State Duma deputy Nikolai Valuev had been banned from entering Azerbaijan following what officials described as "threatening and offensive statements" regarding Baku's closure of the "Russian House" cultural center.