Azerbaijani who was attacked by OMON in Russia: We were tortured and threatened to be sent to war

In Yekaterinburg, an early morning OMON raid occurred on apartments of citizens of Azerbaijani origin. Muhammad Safarov, one of the victims, shared shocking details of the incident with TUT.AZ.

According to Safarov's account, the special forces unit used force to enter the residence:

"Early in the morning, I heard a knock at the door. My mother assumed it was the local police officer. Looking through the peephole, I discovered about twenty masked people. They warned they would count to three, after which they would break down the door. Before I could react, they had already burst inside.

Once inside the apartment, the officers laid everyone on the floor, pressed their feet against our backs, and removed their belts with metal buckles. They completely stripped me, my brother, and father and began to brutally beat us. No explanations followed. The violence in our own home continued for about 40 minutes. Then the three of us, being dragged along the ground, were delivered to a GAZelle minibus. During the process, I injured my leg and reported this. In response, new beatings followed with death threats if I didn't stand up. We were grabbed and shoved into the vehicle, thrown face down."

The victim noted that the physical violence continued during transportation to the police station.

"My brother and I were placed in one cell, while my father was isolated separately. Immediately after this, torture with electric shocks and beatings began. They asked if we knew a certain Pashayev, mentioning events from 2001. They didn't ask other questions, just continued the abuse. I explained that I was born in 1997 and during the mentioned incident I was only four years old. However, they insisted that I could have learned something from my father's conversations and demanded a confession.

They threatened to either beat me to death or send me to the combat zone in Ukraine. When I reported serving in the Russian military in 2018, they replied that it didn't matter. After this, the electric shock torture resumed. Later, my brother and I were separated, I was laid down in the corridor where they continued to deliver blows to my entire body," M. Safarov recounted.

In concluding his story, Muhammad mentioned repeated threats of being sent to war:

"They were preparing documents for our deployment to the front. They gave an ultimatum: either death in Ukraine or in the police station. At this moment, the chairman of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg, Shahin Shikhlinskiy, arrived, who essentially saved us. Without his intervention, we would have been sent to war. Shahin muallim managed to negotiate and free me and my brother. Now I have serious problems with movement."