YEKATERINBURG, June 30. /TASS/. The detained members of the Azeri criminal ethnic group have been operating in Yekaterinburg since the late 90s, a source in the law enforcement agencies told TASS.

"Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Safarov brothers and some ‘respected entrepreneurs’ have been engaged in illegal activities selling drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products, gambling, and overseeing prostitution and the distribution of pornographic materials," the source said.

Earlier, local media reported that a group of Azerbaijani natives had been detained in Yekaterinburg on June 27.

On June 29, the court detained pending trial Ayaz, Akif and Mazakhir Safarov. It extended detention by 72 hours for another three defendants.

According to the source, the alleged victims of the accused include an entrepreneur who sold clothes and refused to pay dues to the group. He was killed by a group of individuals. Also, the group could have been involved in the mass poisoning of Yekaterinburg residents with alcohol in 2021, the source added. According to the source, the group also owned several kiosks selling counterfeit products.

Valery Gorelykh, a spokesman for the Internal Ministry of the Sverdlovsk Region, where Yekaterinburg is located, said that law enforcement officers searched and detained several people on suspicion of committing crimes in the last few years.

Pyotr Volokovykh, Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, where "a strong protest was expressed to the Russian side in connection with the raids on the apartments by the Russian security forces on June 27, 2025." According to Baku, nine people were detained, two killed and several injured.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Volokovykh provided the necessary clarifications on the situation.

The Sverdlovsk branch of the Investigative Committee said that a criminal case has been opened under paragraphs "g" and "h", Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code, Part 3 of Article 30, Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder committed by a group of people by prior agreement, contracted murder, attempted contracted murder). According to the investigators, the defendants are involved in several murders and attempted murders committed in Yekaterinburg in 2001, 2010 and 2011.