Baku's Russian House accused of being an 'espionage hub'

Azerbaijan has halted activities of “Russian House” in Baku according to local media reports on Thursday, following accusations of espionage. This is being described as an escalation of tensions between the two countries.

According to reports, Baku has sent a diplomatic note to Moscow “officially informing about the termination of Rossotrudnichestvo agency's activities in Azerbaijan”.

Rossotrudnichestvo declares itself as “a leading Russian agency whose main mission is to strengthen Russia’s humanitarian influence in the world.” The organization also has offices called “Russian House” in up to 71 countries worldwide. 

Commenting on the closure of “Russian House”, an undisclosed source said to media that “Azerbaijan doesn’t need any external assistance, especially when it is provided based on non-transparent schemes, and organization’s structure has clearly espionage nature."

Earlier in January, a privately owned Azerbaijani television channel, Baku TV aired a report accusing the Russian House in Baku of engaging in anti-Azerbaijani espionage activities under the announced cultural and humanitarian work. The report which alleged that the Russian cultural center was acting as an intelligence hub, particularly stated: “Unfortunately, this is no longer the ‘Russian House’ but a house of Russian espionage.”

On January 27, Azerbaijani Ambassador Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The Russian side emphasized the unconditional importance of building relations between Russia and Azerbaijan in the spirit of strategic partnership and alliance, based on the Declaration signed at the highest level on February 22, 2022, in the national interests of both states.

In this regard, concern was expressed over a series of recent anti-Russian publications in Azerbaijani media, as well as the disinformation campaign against the ‘Russian House’ in Baku. The baseless nature of these accusations was underscored,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

An online magazine Intelligence Online called Rossotrudnichestvo a “Russian soft power agency” that is “a highly versatile tool in Russia's public relations armoury that has close links with the intelligence services.”

The agency’s head, Yevgeny Primakov, is a grandson of Yevgeny Primakov, former Russian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, who was “a Soviet and Russian spy and politician,” according to Wikipedia.  

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