A Russian lawmaker has threatened Azerbaijan with a special military operation, the term used by Kremlin to justify its full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, amid the worsening of ties.
In a video address posted on social media, Russian MP Andrei Gurulyov on Monday berated Azerbaijan for what he described as “spoiling relations with a major neighbor” as Russia. Gurulyov offered imposing import bans on Azerbaijani goods and placing more pressure on members of Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia. Finally, Gurulyov threatened Azerbaijan with the war. “If they still don’t get the message, then there’s another way. The term ‘special military operation’ is flexible - flexible all along the border of the Russian Federation,” the MP concluded.
In yet another warning to Azerbaijan, Kremlin’s chief propagandist Vladimir Solovyev threatened the “special military operation” against Azerbaijan to prevent NATO’s expansion to the Caspian seal.
Speaking to Russia-1 TV channel on August 9, Solovyov said that Russia might start a war in the South Caucasus region. “We must understand that events in the South Caucasus are a great problem. The Caspian Sea might end up in a position that there is a NATO base. This is so dangerous that from geopolitical point of view, it could trigger consequences making the special operation in Ukraine not the last one of our generation,” Solovyov said.
In addition to Solovyov’s threats, popular pro-Kremlin war blogger Yury Podolyaka also claimed that due to geopolitical shifts in the region, “the war between Russia and Azerbaijan has gone from being theoretical to being quite probable.”Podolyaka said in a Telegram post on August 11 that Russia has officially lifted embargo on striking Azerbaijan’s energy infrastructure in Ukraine following Baku’s decision to send weapons to Kyiv. He further claimed that Azerbaijan has been secretly sending weapons to Ukraine since 2023, despite Ilham Alyev’s repeated past remarks that the aid to Ukraine was purely humanitarian.
The threats against Baku came after Azerbaijani pro-government Caliber website reported that Baku would “start considering” weapons supply to Ukraine de to targeted Russian strikes on Azerbaijani oil and gas facilities in Ukraine.
“All of this will inevitably lead to a further deepening of the crisis in bilateral relations,” Caliber reported on Sunday.
Strikes on Azerbaijan’s energy facilities in Ukraine
Russia launched five Shaheed drones on Socar’s [Azerbaijani State Oil Company] oil refinery in Odessa on August 8, causing damage to the diesel fuel pipeline and injuring four SOCAR employees. The attack took on the same day the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders signed a preliminary peace agreement on Washington, ending over three decades of conflict and agreeing to the establishment of a transit corridor giving Azerbaijan “unimpeded” access to its Nakchivan exclave via Armenia.
In yet another attack targeting SOCAR, Russia hit a gas compressor station near Orliivka in Odessa region on August 6. The station is part of the Trans-Balkan route launched newly to help Ukraine ease its energy deficit ahead of the 2025-2026 winter season. Russia’s striking energy facilities linked to Azerbaijan was discussed during Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s phone call to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday. On the same day, the Azerbaijani media reported that Baku would send humanitarian aid worth 2 million USD to Kyiv.
Azerbaijan mulls sending weapons to Ukraine
According to Ukraine’s Defence Express website, among the weapons that might be transferred to Ukraine are 2S1 Gvozdika and 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled guns, as well as 152mm D-20s and 122mm D-30s towed artillery systems. The website claimed Azerbaijan holds a large arsenal of Russian and Soviet-made tanks, armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.
