Azerbaijan Expels Major Kremlin Propoganda Agency as Country Cracks Down on External Interference

Azerbaijan officially expelled Rossotrudnichestvo, a major Kremlin-backed organization, from its territory, according to an Azerbaijani news media Report, authorities sent an official notice to Moscow, terminating the agency’s operations in the country on February 6.

“Azerbaijan continues its consistent policy of protecting its national interests and will not tolerate external interference in its internal affairs,” the sources emphasized.

A few days before the expulsion, Azerbaijani law enforcement took control of the Russian House in Baku, the headquarters of Rossotrudnichestvo. It was revealed that the organization lacked the necessary registration to operate legally in Azerbaijan.

“Why it was allowed to function without proper documentation is a separate and very serious issue,” sources told another Azerbaijani media outlet Minval.

Azerbaijani officials noted that the country no longer requires external assistance, particularly from organizations operating through opaque schemes with structures that resemble intelligence networks.

“Our country has become a donor itself and does not need foreign aid, especially when it comes through non-transparent channels and with organizations that have overt intelligence characteristics,” the sources explained.

Earlier, reports emerged that an Azerbaijani passenger plane, crashed on December 25, 2023, near Aktau, Kazakhstan, and was hit by a Russian Pantsir-S missile.

“The Azerbaijani side possesses a fragment of a Pantsir-S missile which was extracted from the aircraft and identified through international expertise,” the source said.