How the Dismantling of Aivazovsky’s Statue in Karabakh Sparked a New Baku–Moscow Rhetorical Clash

Aivazovsky’s Statue in Karabakh

On August 1, 2025, Azerbaijani authorities quietly removed a statue of the 19th-century Russian-Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky from Khankendi (the Azerbaijani name for the city also known as Stepanakert or Artsakh). What began as the dismantling of a monument swiftly snowballed into a full-blown “toponym war,” drawing sharp rebukes from Moscow, tit-for-tat media exchanges, and renewed questions about sovereignty in the South Caucasus.

Ivan Aivazovsky (baptized Hovhannes Ayvazyan) was born in 1817 in Crimea to an Armenian family. Today celebrated worldwide for his dramatic seascapes, his work holds special prestige in Russia, Armenia, and Ukraine alike. In 2021, a bronze statue of Aivazovsky was erected in Khankendi with the ostensible consent of Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region. For many locals and visitors, it stood as a neutral cultural tribute—until Baku decided otherwise.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the statue had been installed “without permission from official Baku,” calling its presence on sovereign Azerbaijani soil “a sign of disrespect to our territorial integrity.” Within hours, Azerbaijan’s state news agency AZERTAC lodged a formal complaint with Russia’s TASS news agency over its use of the toponym “Stepanakert”—a Soviet-era name favored by Armenian authorities but rejected by Azerbaijan.

Under growing pressure, TASS twice revised its original article’s headline—first substituting “Nagorno-Karabakh” for “Stepanakert,” then ultimately settling on “Karabakh.” Yet the text continued to intersperse “Artsakh,” the Armenian name for the region, prompting fresh ire in Baku and fueling what local media dubbed a “toponym war.”

Moscow’s reaction was swift—and pointed.

Konstantin Zatulin, a deputy of the Russian State Duma, blasted the removal as “barbarism” and decried it as “openly stupid and unreasonable.”

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took to Telegram to share Aivazovsky’s paintings, accusing Azerbaijan of “ignorance” for tearing down the monument.

On August 2, the Moscow daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets escalated tensions further by drawing a parallel between Azerbaijan and Nazi Germany under the headline: “After Ukraine, Baku Declares War on Monuments.” Its author, Marina Perevozkina, claimed the statue’s removal was driven by Aivazovsky’s Armenian heritage—likening it to the Nazis’ removal of physicist Heinrich Hertz’s bust from Karlsruhe University due to his Jewish background.

Even Sergey Aksyonov, head of Russian-occupied Crimea, pledged to salvage, restore, and reinstall the statue in a “worthy place.”

Taken together, these responses transformed what might have been a local municipal decision into an international flashpoint.

This monument dispute did not arise in a vacuum. Since December 2024, Baku–Moscow relations have steadily frayed over a series of incidents:

AZAL Plane Crash (Dec 2024): Azerbaijan blamed Russian air defenses for the fatal crash of its national carrier’s passenger jet.

Yekaterinburg Raid (June 2025): Two ethnic Azerbaijani brothers, Ziyyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, were killed during a special operation by Russian law enforcement.

Media & Diaspora Detentions: The head of Sputnik Azerbaijan was detained on charges of collaborating with Russia’s FSB; eleven Russian nationals were arrested in Baku on narcotics and cybercrime allegations; and, on August 2, diaspora leader Shahin Shikhlinski was detained in Moscow (his son had been arrested in Yekaterinburg weeks earlier).

Leadership Shakeup: Just one week before the statue’s removal, TASS Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, a Baku native, was dismissed shortly after attending an international forum alongside President Ilham Aliyev—an episode extensively dissected in the press.

Against this backdrop, the Aivazovsky monument became more than art: it was a symbol of contested history, competing toponyms, and clashing assertions of sovereignty.

The dismantling of Aivazovsky’s statue—and the ensuing battle over Stepanakert, Khankendi, and Artsakh—illustrates how cultural symbols and place names can serve as potent instruments in international diplomacy. As both sides dig in over semantics and statues, the underlying question remains: can Baku and Moscow find a new equilibrium in which artistic heritage and national sovereignty coexist, or will every monument risk becoming another chapter in their rhetorical conflict? Observers should watch upcoming diplomatic exchanges, media narratives, and on-the-ground developments to see whether this “toponym war” presages further escalation—or paves the way to renewed dialogue.Toponyms, Monuments & Sovereignty: How the Dismantling of Aivazovsky’s Statue in Karabakh Sparked a New Baku–Moscow Rhetorical Clash

On August 1, 2025, Azerbaijani authorities quietly removed a statue of the 19th-century Russian-Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky from Khankendi (the Azerbaijani name for the city also known as Stepanakert or Artsakh). What began as the dismantling of a monument swiftly snowballed into a full-blown “toponym war,” drawing sharp rebukes from Moscow, tit-for-tat media exchanges, and renewed questions about sovereignty in the South Caucasus.

Ivan Aivazovsky (baptized Hovhannes Ayvazyan) was born in 1817 in Crimea to an Armenian family. Today celebrated worldwide for his dramatic seascapes, his work holds special prestige in Russia, Armenia, and Ukraine alike. In 2021, a bronze statue of Aivazovsky was erected in Khankendi with the ostensible consent of Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region. For many locals and visitors, it stood as a neutral cultural tribute—until Baku decided otherwise.

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the statue had been installed “without permission from official Baku,” calling its presence on sovereign Azerbaijani soil “a sign of disrespect to our territorial integrity.” Within hours, Azerbaijan’s state news agency AZERTAC lodged a formal complaint with Russia’s TASS news agency over its use of the toponym “Stepanakert”—a Soviet-era name favored by Armenian authorities but rejected by Azerbaijan.

Under growing pressure, TASS twice revised its original article’s headline—first substituting “Nagorno-Karabakh” for “Stepanakert,” then ultimately settling on “Karabakh.” Yet the text continued to intersperse “Artsakh,” the Armenian name for the region, prompting fresh ire in Baku and fueling what local media dubbed a “toponym war.”

Moscow’s reaction was swift—and pointed.

Konstantin Zatulin, a deputy of the Russian State Duma, blasted the removal as “barbarism” and decried it as “openly stupid and unreasonable.”

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took to Telegram to share Aivazovsky’s paintings, accusing Azerbaijan of “ignorance” for tearing down the monument.

On August 2, the Moscow daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets escalated tensions further by drawing a parallel between Azerbaijan and Nazi Germany under the headline: “After Ukraine, Baku Declares War on Monuments.” Its author, Marina Perevozkina, claimed the statue’s removal was driven by Aivazovsky’s Armenian heritage—likening it to the Nazis’ removal of physicist Heinrich Hertz’s bust from Karlsruhe University due to his Jewish background.

Even Sergey Aksyonov, head of Russian-occupied Crimea, pledged to salvage, restore, and reinstall the statue in a “worthy place.”

Taken together, these responses transformed what might have been a local municipal decision into an international flashpoint.

This monument dispute did not arise in a vacuum. Since December 2024, Baku–Moscow relations have steadily frayed over a series of incidents:

AZAL Plane Crash (Dec 2024): Azerbaijan blamed Russian air defenses for the fatal crash of its national carrier’s passenger jet.

Yekaterinburg Raid (June 2025): Two ethnic Azerbaijani brothers, Ziyyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, were killed during a special operation by Russian law enforcement.

Media & Diaspora Detentions: The head of Sputnik Azerbaijan was detained on charges of collaborating with Russia’s FSB; eleven Russian nationals were arrested in Baku on narcotics and cybercrime allegations; and, on August 2, diaspora leader Shahin Shikhlinski was detained in Moscow (his son had been arrested in Yekaterinburg weeks earlier).

Leadership Shakeup: Just one week before the statue’s removal, TASS Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, a Baku native, was dismissed shortly after attending an international forum alongside President Ilham Aliyev—an episode extensively dissected in the press.

Against this backdrop, the Aivazovsky monument became more than art: it was a symbol of contested history, competing toponyms, and clashing assertions of sovereignty.

The dismantling of Aivazovsky’s statue—and the ensuing battle over Stepanakert, Khankendi, and Artsakh—illustrates how cultural symbols and place names can serve as potent instruments in international diplomacy. As both sides dig in over semantics and statues, the underlying question remains: can Baku and Moscow find a new equilibrium in which artistic heritage and national sovereignty coexist, or will every monument risk becoming another chapter in their rhetorical conflict? Observers should watch upcoming diplomatic exchanges, media narratives, and on-the-ground developments to see whether this “toponym war” presages further escalation—or paves the way to renewed dialogue.