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Final charges filed against Yekaterinburg Azerbaijani diaspora head as case led by Armenian investigators goes to court

Shahin Shikhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg

12 December 2025 15:31 (UTC +04:00)

Final charges have been brought against Shahin Shikhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg and a Russian citizen currently in detention, and the case has been sent to court for consideration.

According to information obtained by APA, statements in the criminal case against Shahin Shikhlinski were taken by A.S. Karapetyan, a senior investigator for particularly important cases at the Russian Investigative Committee, a justice major of Armenian origin.

Notably, during the incident that occurred on July 1, 2025, testimony against Shikhlinski was also given by another Armenian-origin employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Karen Kamoyevich Tutuntsyan.

A source in Russia stated: “Upon reviewing the investigation materials, it is evident that the criminal case against Shahin Shikhlinski has been conducted in a one-sided and biased manner, and that there are a significant number of contradictory points in the charges brought against him.”

It should be noted that a criminal case has been opened against Shahin Shikhlinski under Article 318 of the Russian Criminal Code (use of violence against a representative of authority), as well as on charges of attempted contract killing.

It should be recalled that in June this year, Russian law enforcement agencies carried out an operation against Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. During the operation, force was used, and as a result, two Azerbaijanis — brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov — died from injuries they sustained. Other members of the Safarov family and several compatriots were arrested by court order. They were charged with crimes allegedly committed in 2001, 2010, and 2011.

At the same time, Shahin Shikhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg, was detained on July 2. Law enforcement officers wearing military uniforms, masks, and without identification insignia blocked the car in which Shikhlinski was traveling in the middle of the street and, using force, dragged Shahin Shikhlinski and his son Mutvali out of the vehicle, threw them to the ground, and handcuffed them. Mutvali Shikhlinski was released 15 minutes after his detention, while Shahin Shikhlinski was released after several hours of questioning at the Investigative Department.

Subsequently, law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case against the Shikhlinskis on charges of using violence against a representative of the state during their detention. In this criminal case, Mutvali Shikhlinski was detained on July 16 and placed in pretrial detention. Shahin Shikhlinski was declared wanted. On August 2, Shahin Shikhlinski was detained in Moscow and transferred to Yekaterinburg.