The deaths of two brothers in Russian custody have laid bare a diplomatic rift with Azerbaijan, as it challenges Moscow's dominant role in the South Caucasus and establishes itself as a regional power.

Police in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku searched the offices of Russia’s state-funded news outlet Sputnik on Monday (June 30, 2025), local media reported, as tensions rose between the two countries after the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis during a police raid last week in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.