A former Soviet Union state has been accused of looking to mount a “second front” against Russia. Azerbaijan–Russia relations have been deteriorating for months and now a Moscow-based newspaper has described the country as “hostile”.

Tensions between Baku and Moscow made headlines in the Russian press on Tuesday after the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian custody and a raid by Azerbaijani police on a Kremlin-backed outlet. Relations started to worsen in December when Baku accused Moscow of attacking an Azerbaijani passenger jet as it approached Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. Now, it appears anger within Russia at Azerbaijan is growing.

In a round-up of Russian papers, BBC News’ Russia editor Steve Rosenberg reported the pro-Kremlin Moskovsky Komsomolets as saying: “On the ruins of the former USSR one more hostile state has revealed itself. It’s not Georgia, it’s not the Russophobic Baltic states.

“The tragedy comes from the most unexpected place: sunny Baku where our ‘partners’ are ready to open a ‘second front’ against us. For now, in terms of diplomacy and propaganda. But who knows what will follow.”

The British journalist, based in Moscow, said the papers offer an “illuminating picture” into the picture of Russia’s “not great” relations with former Soviet nations.

Another outlet reported the Baku-Moscow relations as “sour”.

On Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s interior ministry said seven people linked to a Kremlin-funded media outlet in Baku were detained after a raid on its office, local media said.

On Monday, masked police stormed the offices of Sputnik Azerbaijan and the interior ministry said the outlet had continued operating via “illegal financing,” despite having its accreditation revoked in February.

Detained in the raid were Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov, and editorial board director Igor Kartavykh. Five others linked to the media outlet also were detained and under investigation for alleged fraud, illegal entrepreneurship and acquiring property by criminal means.

Sputnik’s parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, said on Tuesday it was “deeply concerned” by the raid and that Azerbaijani staff members were among those detained.

The incident was referenced in the Russian media, with Izvestia calling it a “giant scandal” and claiming “reports have appeared in the Azerbaijani media heavily criticising Russian domestic and foreign policy”, the BBC’s Rosenberg reports.

The detentions followed Russian police raids Friday on the homes of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, Russia, as part of an investigation into a number of killings dating back decades.

Two brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, died while in police custody and several others were seriously injured in the raids, officials said, with nine people detained.

Azerbaijan protested the deaths by cancelling a scheduled trip to Moscow by government officials, citing the “targeted extrajudicial killings and violence against Azerbaijanis on the basis of their nationality” by Russian law enforcement.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Monday that one of the deaths had been caused by heart failure, without providing details on the second.

It said a medical examination to determine the cause of death for both men would be carried out.

Rosenberg also details reports on Armenia and Moldova before highlighting a 16-page supplement highlighting ties between Russia and its key ally Belarus — another former Soviet state.

Russia ranks 171st out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index 2025 which claims that since Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, “almost all independent media have been banned, blocked and/or declared ‘foreign agents’ or ‘undesirable organisations’”.