Moscow-Baku Tensions Escalate Amid Series of Arrests and Leaked Letter

Azerbaijani media published an explanatory letter from Russian Captain Dmitry Paladichuk, Orda.kz reports.

According to the document, in December 2024, he gave an order to strike an air target during a drone attack on Grozny.

The letter surfaced on July 1 via Azerbaijani media and describes how Paladichuk, during a drone attack, ordered fire on a "potential target" believed to be the AZAL flight from Baku.

According to the leaked document, Paladichuk observed a fast-moving object at high altitude obscured by fog. After relaying details to the 51st Division command post, he received an order to strike the object. 

The first missile missed; an order for a second strike attempt followed.

The Insider believes the letter could be authentic and established that Dmitry Paladichuk has served in the Russian air defense forces, including the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army in Novosibirsk.

The insider also obtained an audio recording of a recent telephone conversation.

In it, Paladichuk confirmed that he had drawn up the document at the request of his superiors “after the shooting at the plane,” because “they demanded it.” He also pointed out the characteristic features of his handwriting — in particular, the specific spelling of the letter “ё.”

The publication also notes the coincidence of his voice with the voice of the person in the video previously published by Azerbaijani media, where, allegedly, the order to open fire is heard.

The Embraer 190 aircraft crashed near Aqtau on December 25, 2024, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard. In February 2025, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Transport released a preliminary report stating the plane was hit by a missile, likely from a Russian Pantsir-C system. 

The timing of the leak coincides with escalating tensions between Moscow and Baku following a Russian police operation supposedly targeting an ethnic criminal group in Yekaterinburg that resulted in the deaths of two Azerbaijani citizens.

Baku accuses Russian officers of torture and has opened a criminal case. Cultural cooperation events have since been cancelled.

Against that backdrop, Azerbaijani authorities arrested the director and editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s Baku bureau, who are reportedly Russian FSB agents. Shortly after, eight Russian citizens were detained in Baku for alleged drug trafficking and cybercrime, according to Report.az.

Images show the detainees were likely subject to physical abuse; all were placed under arrest for four months.

According to Vazhnye Istorii, among those detained were IT entrepreneur Anton Drachev, IT specialist Sergey Sofronov, and programmer Dmitry Bezugly.

Meanwhile, the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals, Shahin Shikhlinsky, was detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

And in Voronezh, security forces raided the home of businessman Yusif Khalilov, originally from Azerbaijan.

Russian security forces later released Shahin Shikhlinsky, following an interrogation, Novaya Gazeta Europe reports.

The news was confirmed by RBK, citing Shikhlinsky’s son, Mutvaly Shikhlinsky.

Shahin Shikhlinsky is considered a witness in the case involving the Safarov brothers, who were detained in Yekaterinburg last week on suspicion of committing homicides in the 2000s.

Original Authors: Raushan Korzhumbekova, Second Article