Court in Baku Prolongs Arrest of Russians Suspected in Drug Case

A court in Baku has decided to keep eight Russian nationals accused of drug trafficking behind bars for another three months, Orda.kz reports, citing Caliber.az.

The Sabail District Court rejected petitions from three of the defendants — Ilya Bezugly, Alexander Vaysero, and Anton Drachev — who had asked to be placed under house arrest. According to Mash, Bezugly told the court that his health had worsened in detention and that he had developed arrhythmia. The judge refused to grant the requests.

Azerbaijani authorities said they detained the eight Russians on July 1, alleging that they were part of two criminal networks involved in smuggling drugs from Iran and laundering profits through cybercrimes. When the suspects were brought to their initial hearings, several had visible injuries.

All of the men work in the IT sector and had left Russia after the start of military mobilization.

They deny the allegations, insisting they have no link to drug smuggling. Their arrest came at a time of tense relations between Moscow and Baku, following a Russian law enforcement operation in Yekaterinburg. The operation targeted people of Azerbaijani origin, during which two men were killed.

This prompted condemnation from Baku over what it described as ethnically motivated violence.

In the same period, Azerbaijani authorities also detained staff from “Sputnik Azerbaijan,” including editor-in-chief Evgeny Belousov and executive director Igor Kartavykh.

Both were later released and returned to Russia after relations between the nations seemingly began to thaw following a meeting in Dushanbe between presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin.