No:358/24, Answer by Aykhan Hajizada, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the media question regarding the return to the homeland of Azerbaijani citizens detained in Chechnya
24 September 2024 05:59
Question: Approximately one month ago, reports were circulated that 3 Azerbaijani citizens, Elkhan Shirinov, Vugar Maharramov and Nihad Rzayev, had been detained in Chechnya on charges of violating the migration laws of the Russian Federation, and that later Elkhan Shirinov and Vugar Maharramov had been involved in trainings in Grozny with the purpose of being sent to the war in Ukraine. What measures has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs taken regarding the issue and have our citizens been released?
Answer: As soon as information was received about the detention of Azerbaijani citizens Shirinov Elkhan Akbar, born in 1975, Maharramov Vugar Nazim, born in 1982, and Rzayev Nihad Tafdig, born in 2004, a note was immediately addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for the purpose of returning our citizens to our country, and negotiations were conducted with the MFA of Russia and its other relevant institutions. Along with this, a telephone conversation was held between our Embassy and our detained citizens.
As a result of the work carried out in the direction of returning our citizens to our country, the return of the mentioned citizens to Azerbaijan by land through the state border crossing point with the Russian Federation was ensured on 21 September.