🇦🇿💬🇷🇺 Azerbaijan Publicly Humiliates and Detains Russian Citizens

Russian nationals have been arrested in Baku, accused of belonging to two alleged criminal groups involved in drug trafficking from Iran, online distribution of banned substances, and cybercrime.

Azerbaijani police filmed the detainees — a group of visibly beaten young men, forced to march in single file with blood on their clothes and bruises on their faces — in a clear display of intimidation.

These public crackdowns on Russians in Azerbaijan follow the recent high-profile arrest in Yekaterinburg of an Azerbaijani gang that had been carrying out murders — including of fellow Azerbaijanis — for years.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics

😑 Ilham Aliyev: From KGB boss' son to MI6 asset

The current Azerbaijan-Russia crisis looks like a pretext for the Azerbaijani president to spoil relations with Russia, which he has been seeking for a long time.

Aliyev's bio is very reminiscent of the Judas story:

♦️ His father, Heydar Aliyev, began his KGB service in counterintelligence and in 1967 was the Azerbaijan SSR's KGB chief.

♦️ Ilham began doing business with Turkiye back in the early 1990s, before his father became the head of Azerbaijan. As Ilham himself grew in power, the connection with the Turkish side became stronger.

♦️ The Aliyev family owns several properties in the UK, which they carefully conceal. According to the 2021 Pandora Papers, the value of their UK properties exceeds $700 million.

♦️ A turning point for Azerbaijan-UK relations was Ilham's visit to London in 2016. At the time, state-related media in Baku called it "triumphant", noting that Azerbaijan was entering "an era of new strategic relations" with Western countries.

♦️ Last September, the head of the British intelligence service MI6, Richard Moore, visited Baku. It is noted that the visit was not official. It is only known that he gave a lecture at the ADA University. Neither the Azerbaijani authorities nor the British Embassy in Baku commented on it.

♦️ With the development of the current scandal between Russia and Azerbaijan, Ukraine has become more active. Volodymyr Zelensky immediately called Aliyev, expressing gratitude to Baku for supporting Ukraine. He also agreed with him to hold a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

♦️ In turn, Ukraine's Office of the President emphasized the importance of Baku being a Turkish ally and UK partner. This looks like a direct indication of the beneficiaries of Azerbaijan’s recent actions.

👍 Boost us | Chat | @geopolitics_prime