The relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are at the level of strategic partnership. The two countries cooperate closely in political, military, and economic terms and jointly ensure regional security. It’s not coincidental that in February 2022, the Declaration on Alliance was also signed between the two countries. In these conditions, where trust and cooperation are at the highest level, some circles in Russia, through their agents in the media, are trying to organize information sabotage against Azerbaijan, to instill a feeling of hostility towards Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis in Russian society. One of such information saboteurs, perhaps the first is the TV journalist and presenter Vladimir Solovyov.
On "Rossiya-1" and his own "Solovyov Life" TV channel, Solovyov along with the invited experts, evaluates and comments on the socio-political processes taking place in Russia and the world. In his broadcasts, his biased approach to the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict and his pro-Armenian position have been manifested multiple times.
This biased approach continued even after Azerbaijan fundamentally resolved the Garabagh issue in 2020. Solovyov even apologized to the state of Azerbaijan in a live broadcast in June 2022 for calling David Babayan, the representative of the so-called regime that has already been sent to the archives of history, who is currently in prison in Baku, on the air of the federal channel. However, it seems that Vladimir Solovyov, to whom the Russian state has shown a wide field and trust, could not get rid of the anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric and Azeri-phobic attitude. Thus, he started looking for "Azerbaijani traces" in the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall located in the Moscow region, where at least 139 people were killed and hundreds of people were injured on March 22.
Although the names and nationalities of the terrorists who committed the incident are known, Solovoy voiced an unreasonable possibility that one of those persons could be an Azerbaijani. Solovyov, who thinks he is a spy, seems to have forgotten that the so-called possibilities contradict the statements of the Russian Investigative Committee, the Federal Security Service, and other official bodies.
Everyone knew that the terrorist incident in Crocus was not connected to Azerbaijan at all, that the Azerbaijani people were not involved in the incident, the Russian citizen Vugar Huseynov, who is an Azerbaijani only by nationality, was among the victims. Thus, it can be said with full confidence that making false accusations against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis is a step born out of Vladimir Solovyov's personal antipathy and bias against Azerbaijan. This is an unacceptable step for a federal channel broadcaster who claims to be a professional journalist, has years of broadcasting experience, and broadcasts throughout Russia and neighboring countries. At the same time, he opposes the Kremlin's official policy, which opposes the possibility that the incident was committed on religious and national grounds, and is wary that the incident could lead to internal tensions in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Russia.
Another question is related to the number of times that the presenter, who created unjustified tension between Russia and its friendly countries with his baseless words, not being punished. On the contrary, it seems that after each mistake and biased statement, he is given a wider field, and a favorable ground is prepared for the next information provocations. Solovyov's statements about migrants and diaspora representatives from the Caucasus and Central Asian republics, including Azerbaijan, who work, live in Russia, and make a significant contribution to the country's life, containing xenophobia and hatred on ethnic grounds are dangerous and are primarily a source of danger for the national security of the multi-ethnic Russian state. Therefore, the time has come to give a legal assessment to Vladimir Solovyov's speeches and journalistic activities.
