SEVEN people linked to a media outlet in the Azerbaijani capital Baku have been detained after a raid on its office, according to local news reports.

Masked police stormed the offices of Russian news organisation Sputnik Azerbaijan on Monday.

The Interior Ministry said that the outlet had continued operating with “illegal financing,” despite having its accreditation revoked in February.

Detained in the raid were Sputnik Azerbaijan editor-in-chief Yevgeny Belousov and editorial board director Igor Kartavykh.

Five others linked to the media outlet also were detained and are under investigation for alleged fraud, illegal entrepreneurship and acquiring property by criminal means.

Mr Belousov and Mr Kartavykh were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 12 years, and with conspiracy to launder funds or other property and conspiracy to carry out an illegal enterprise. 

Sputnik’s parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, said on Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” by the raid and that Azerbaijani staff members were among those detained. 

The Russian consulate complained that it has not been granted access to its detained citizens.

“All these actions have no basis and have led to the blocking of Sputnik Azerbaijan,” the statement said.

“We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately resolve this unacceptable situation and release our colleagues.”

The Kremlin also called for their release.

“Such measures against members of the media are absolutely not in line with generally accepted rules and norms and, of course, do not match the spirit and nature of Russian-Azerbaijani relations,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The detentions followed Russian police raids on the homes of ethnic Azerbaijanis in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg last Friday as part of an investigation into a number of killings dating back decades. 

Two brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, died in police custody and several others were seriously injured in the raids, in which nine people were detained, officials said.