Mikhail Gusman has been dismissed from his post as First Deputy Director General of TASS by order of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. This happened shortly after his participation in the Global Media Forum in Azerbaijan, which was also attended by President Ilham Aliyev.

Gusman's trip and statements drew criticism from Z-bloggers. He worked at TASS for about 30 years, was the author and host of the Formula of Power program, and was awarded the titles of Honored Cultural Worker and Honored Journalist of the Russian Federation.

During the III Shusha Global Media Forum, Ukrainian journalist Elena Kurbanova presented Ilham Aliyev with Ukrainian Armed Forces chevrons, to which he responded with words of gratitude: "Thank you for what you do. Keep up the good work." In addition, the President of Azerbaijan, answering a question from another journalist from Ukraine, Dmitry Gordon, called on Kyiv "not to put up with the occupation of its territories."

Aliyev also said that Baku is preparing documents to submit to international courts against Russia in connection with the crash of the AZAL plane.

Recall that on December 25, 2024, the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. 38 people died, 29 were saved. The cause of the disaster was shelling from Russian air defense systems during an attack by Ukrainian drones on the territory of Chechnya. Baku noted that Moscow has still not informed about the investigation and is delaying it in every possible way.