Russian News Chief Fired After Praising Azerbaijani President Amid Diplomatic Tensions

Mikhail Gusman

Mikhail Gusman, the long-serving First Deputy Director General of Russia's state news agency TASS, has been dismissed from his post by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. While no official reason was given for the decision, the dismissal follows a wave of criticism from pro-war Russian bloggers regarding Gusman's recent complimentary remarks about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at a media forum, amidst escalating tensions between Moscow and Baku.

Mikhail Gusman, 75, had been a prominent figure at TASS for three decades, serving as First Deputy Director General since 1999. His career included extensive international work, with TASS Director General Andrei Kondrashov crediting him with "more than 50 partnership agreements with leading agencies worldwide, about 20 more agreements prepared for signing, hundreds of international and all-Russian TASS events, and thousands of implemented creative ideas." Kondrashov thanked Gusman for his "tireless work" and wished the "agency veteran" well in future endeavors. Gusman is also known as a journalist, radio and television presenter, hosting the "Formula of Power" series since 2000, and holds titles such as Honored Cultural Worker of Russia (2001) and Honored Journalist of Russia (2018). He is the younger brother of director and TV presenter Yuliy Gusman.

The controversy leading to his dismissal stems from his participation in the Shusha Global Media Forum in Khankendi (Azerbaijan). During the forum, Gusman, a Baku native, praised Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy. According to meeting transcripts, Gusman addressed Aliyev, stating: "Today, Azerbaijan, in my opinion, pursues a completely unique foreign policy... There is a certain phenomenon in this that not everyone in the world understands. It seems to me that not everyone in the world fully appreciates it... I understand that asking you how you manage this is like asking a virtuoso violinist how he plays the violin... But your policy is based on certain, it seems to me, very clear, very well-thought-out political principles that allow you to implement this multi-vector policy." Political scientist Sergey Markov, another Russian participant, also attended the forum and similarly did not challenge Aliyev's statements regarding Russia, instead joining in the praise.

This behavior drew sharp criticism from the pro-war segment of Russian social media. Sergey Kolyasnikov, a pro-war blogger and author of the Telegram channel Zergulio, wrote that Gusman and Markov were "doing compliments to Aliyev at a time when our journalists, taken hostage, are sitting in Azerbaijani dungeons." This message was reposted by the pro-war Telegram channel "Starshe Eddy." Alexander Kots, a "war correspondent" for "Komsomolskaya Pravda," reacted positively to Gusman's dismissal, echoing similar sentiments in his post: "The reasons for the personnel decision are not reported. But recently, Gusman, along with political scientist Markov, went to bow before the President of Azerbaijan. Who, I remind you, is holding Russian IT specialists, beaten to a pulp, hostage. And whose media, merging in ecstasy with Azerbaijani experts, are slandering Russia."

The criticism of Gusman and Markov comes amid a deepening crisis in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia. Tensions escalated following the crash of an AZAL airline Embraer E190 aircraft on December 25, 2024, in Aktau, Kazakhstan, which was en route from Baku to Grozny. In mid-July, reports indicated that Baku was preparing to file a lawsuit against Moscow in an international court, citing a lack of "any clear answer from the Russian side" regarding the investigation's progress over seven months.

Further exacerbating relations have been mass detentions of citizens from both countries. On June 27, approximately 50 Azerbaijani natives were detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia, for questioning regarding their alleged involvement in murders and attempted murders committed between 2001 and 2011. During these investigative actions, two primary suspects, brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, died. Baku asserts that their deaths were due to "severe post-traumatic shock caused by numerous bodily injuries." In retaliation, Azerbaijani authorities reportedly detained and beat more than 10 Russians in Baku, conducted searches at the "Sputnik Azerbaijan" editorial office, and arrested two of its staff members.

While the official decree for Gusman's dismissal did not specify reasons, the timing and the intense backlash from influential pro-war voices strongly suggest a connection between his public statements in Azerbaijan and the decision to remove him from his high-ranking position at TASS. The incident highlights the growing pressure on Russian public figures to align with the prevailing nationalistic narrative, particularly concerning sensitive geopolitical relationships.