The head of Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Commission on Countering Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats, Ramid Namazov, stated on Friday, May 2, that Russian hackers launched cyberattacks on local media outlets in February.
The statement was reported by 1News.az.
According to Namazov, the attack was carried out at a high technical level by the cyber-espionage group APT29 (also known as Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard, and The Dukes), which is linked to Russian entities.
This group specializes in high-priority cyber operations, including those targeting government institutions, diplomatic missions, the energy sector, defense, and the media.
Namazov said that an investigation revealed a likely motive behind the attack.
He cited the suspension of the Russian Information and Cultural Center "Russian House" — which was not registered as a legal entity in Azerbaijan — and the closure of the local office of "Rossiya Segodnya" (Sputnik) as the likely triggers.
“It was these developments, which have indirect political motivations, that led to this cyber interference,” the MP noted.
He added that a preliminary investigation established that the coordinated and politically motivated cyberattacks targeted more than 10 leading media outlets.
According to experts, this incident is considered one of the most serious cyber interference operations ever conducted and detected in Azerbaijan.
