Russia appears to be losing its grip on Azerbaijan, a former Soviet nation and one of its closest allies in the region.

Azerbaijan has been pushing back against Russian dominance in the Caucasus region, seeking closer ties with Turkey and Israel ...

Deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis rounded up by police for decades-old murders in a Russian city. The crash of an Azerbaijan ...

The rift, provoked by the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian custody, was the latest in a series of spats that ...

Deaths in custody, media offices raided, and beaten and bloodied suspects paraded in court — relations between Russia and ...

However, this is not a simple narrative of Azerbaijan resisting Russian dominance. It is a complex struggle over energy routes, regional influence, and the future of the South Caucasus, where Western ...

Russia also has been the main market for Azerbaijan’s fruit and vegetable exports. It also is a key transport corridor for Russia’s trade with Iran and other partners in the Middle East.

Russia and Azerbaijan developed strong economic and cultural ties after 1993 when Aliyev’s father, Heydar, who also was Azerbaijan’s Soviet-era Communist boss, became president.

Russia’s state-run agency in Azerbaijan In February, the Azerbaijani government shut down Russia's state-funded news agency, Sputnik, but it has continued to operate, albeit with reduced staff.

Russia brokered a truce and deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to the region. Azerbaijan reclaimed full control of Karabakh in September 2023 after a lightning military campaign.