Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zacharova slammed Azeri reports on deputy spokesman Artyom Kozhin’s comments over saboteur Dilgam Askerov sentenced to imprisonment in Karabakh.

At an April 27 briefing Zacharova slammed the reports as rude, lacking valid critical or analytical points. “The Azeri-published materials leave us with nothing but resentment. We’re open to communicating with media, but nobody’s allowed to be rude to us,” Zakharova noted when asked to comment on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s efforts to bring about the release of the saboteur.

She further advised Azerbaijani journalists against using problematic issues to fan hatred between the two countries. “Surely, a report can’t harm the Moscow-Baku ties, but then it can help create unfavorable moods. So, in the end, what we need to ask ourselves is whether it does any service to Azerbaijan,” she said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry urged to stop media propaganda over Azeri saboteur Dilgam Askerov.

In late December, a court in Nagorno Karabakh sentenced one Azerbaijani man to life imprisonment and another to 22 years in prison on charges stemming from the murder of an Armenian teenager which led to their high-profile arrests in July. In a verdict condemned by Azerbaijan’s government, Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Quliyev were convicted of illegal border crossing and arms possession, espionage and kidnapping. Askerov, who was jailed for life, was also found guilty of killing Smbat Tsakanian, a 17-year-old Armenian resident of the Kelbajar district sandwiched between Armenia and Karabakh.