Consular staff from the Russian Embassy in Baku were prevented from meeting with Russian journalists on Monday, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
Zakharova, speaking to RIA Novosti, stated that no explanation was provided for the denial of access.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry had confirmed that it carried out an operation at the Baku office of the Sputnik news agency. Reports indicated that the office had not yet re-established communication with Moscow.
Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief of Russia’s RT and Rossiya Segodnya media group, noted that embassy staff had gone to the office to reach Russian citizens employed there.
“Employees of the consular department of the Russian Embassy were not allowed to see the Russian journalists. Information about the reasons for such actions was not given,” Zakharova said.
She added that the embassy had been unable to contact the journalists for over two hours and that Moscow was deeply concerned.
“We are worried about our journalists,” she stated, adding that the Russian Embassy had officially informed the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, and State Security Service, but had yet to receive a response.
(NAN)