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Azerbaijan Protests to Russia After Kyiv Embassy Damaged in Missile Strike

· 2 min read
Baku/Kyiv​

Azerbaijan has lodged a formal protest with Russia after its embassy compound in Kyiv sustained damage during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s capital early Friday morning.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, a Russian missile fell within the embassy’s territory, triggering an explosion that damaged parts of the building and several service vehicles. No embassy staff were injured.

“The Azerbaijani side stressed that such attacks on diplomatic missions are unacceptable,” the ministry said, adding that Baku demanded a full investigation and a detailed explanation from Moscow. The Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Baku to receive the protest note.

The strike was part of a broader wave of Russian attacks on residential neighborhoods in Kyiv, which Ukrainian authorities said included the use of “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles. Azerbaijani officials confirmed that remnants of an earlier missile from a January 2024 strike—an unexploded ordnance buried eight meters underground—were also discovered near the embassy.

President Ilham Aliyev discussed the incident with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call on Friday, during which Aliyev condemned the strike and reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and the protection of diplomatic missions under international law.

The incident marks a rare public rebuke of Moscow by Baku, signaling heightened diplomatic sensitivity amid growing tensions in Azerbaijan–Russia relations.