Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry told local media that seven people linked to a Kremlin-funded media outlet in Baku have been detained after a Monday raid on its office.

The rift, provoked by the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian custody, was the latest in a series of spats that revealed a deeper diplomatic rift between the former allies.

The diplomatic row began last week after two ethnic Azerbaijanis died during police raids in Russia and escalated after Baku then arrested two Russian state journalists and a further roughly 15 more Russians on suspicion of drug trafficking and cybercrime.