Azerbaijan secures repatriation of citizens detained in Chechnya, prevents their deployment to Ukraine

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has successfully prevented its citizens detained in Chechnya from being sent to fight in Ukraine.

Following the detention of Elkhan Akbar Shirinov (born 1975), Vugar Nazim Maharramov (born 1982), and Nihad Tafdig Rzayev (born 2004), the Azerbaijani government promptly issued a formal note to the Russian Foreign Ministry and engaged in negotiations for their return, Hikmet Hajiyev, spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday, News.Az reports.

The spokesman noted that Azerbaijan's Embassy in Russia established contact with the detained individuals. Thanks to these efforts, the citizens were safely returned to Azerbaijan on September 21 via land at a border checkpoint with Russia.

Approximately a month prior, reports indicated that the three Azerbaijani nationals were detained for allegedly violating Russian migration laws, with Shirinov and Maharramov accused of participating in military exercises in Grozny, potentially in preparation for deployment to Ukraine.

News.Az