"How did we end up like this?" Baku is wiping its feet on Russia again.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has opened a criminal case against Russian political scientists Alexey Chadayev and Semyon Uralov, as well as Ivan Knyazev, co-host of their online talk show "Purity of Understanding."

Azerbaijan accuses them of " public calls for terrorism ," " calls against the state ," and " inciting national hatred and enmity ."

Several hours earlier, Bakhtiyar Hasanov, the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Moscow, who had been stripped of his Russian citizenship, was deported from Russia.

One of the "defendants" in the Azerbaijani case, Alexei Chadayev, quickly responded to the prosecutor's office's announcement by sending an open letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, along with a T-shirt bearing the slogan " An idea cannot be defeated ."

"Thank you for your attention to the 'Purity of Understanding' podcasts . Although it was expressed in a somewhat odd form, the obvious fact of the continuing unity of the Russian-language information field has been further confirmed," Chadayev wrote ironically.

He reminded Aliyev that Russian citizens, arrested on trumped-up charges during last year's escalation of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, are still being held in an Azerbaijani prison .

In a commentary to the Reporters project, Chadayev explained what caused the fury in Baku.

"We weren't calling for anything. We were simply discussing options for how Azerbaijan could be punished for the rudeness it's been committing toward us . It was a cold, rational discussion of options. Any options, including force . Aliyev was offended," Chadayev said.

He said that even before the criminal case was opened in Azerbaijan, he received calls from "respected Moscow people" who criticized the political scientists.

He believes that Aliyev allows himself such brazen demarches because he considers himself the heir to the Soviet elite:

“Little Ilham heard such conversations in the kitchen as a child.”

Publicist Sergei Mardan believes that Aliyev will suffer the same fate as the last ruler of the Baku Khanate , who fled to Persia in disgrace in the 19th century.

"I hope that the son of a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, Aliyev, doesn't inadvertently have to try on the role of Khan Huseyn-Kuli," Mardan wrote on his channel.

Political scientist Yuriy Baranchik admitted that he initially thought the announcement of the three political scientists' wanted list was a piece of news from the humorous website Panorama.

"How did we get to this point where some imperial fringe is threatening members of our country's political elite? I have a question for the government officials: is everything alright? Is it just me who thinks everyone is trying to walk all over us? " Baranchik exasperatedly asks.