The initial group of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have reached Armenia after Azerbaijan’s military attack.
Local officials in Armenia have reported the arrival of the initial group of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. Following a 10-month blockade and a swift military operation, Azerbaijan has regained complete authority over the separatist area. It is anticipated that additional refugees will arrive in the coming days.
Thousands of people were evacuated from cities and villages affected by the latest fighting and taken to a Russian peacekeepers’ camp in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Karen Balyan, advisor to the governor of Syunik, informed Armenian media on Sunday that the initial batch of approximately 30 individuals from Nagorno-Karabakh has arrived in the Syunik region of Armenia. The separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh, consisting of ethnic Armenians, have additionally declared that Russian peacekeepers will provide assistance to those wishing to depart the area and relocate to Armenia.
The Health Ministry of Armenia reported that 23 individuals with severe injuries, who were among the many casualties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, were transported to Armenia in a convoy of 24 ambulances.
Nagorno-Karabakh is located in Azerbaijan and came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabak along with territory surrounding the region that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.
A Russia-brokered armistice ended the war, and a contingent of about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers was sent to the region to monitor it. Parts of Nagorno-Karabakh that weren’t retaken by Azerbaijan remained under the control of the separatist authorities.
In December, Azerbaijan enforced a blockade on the sole route linking Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. They claimed that the Armenian government was utilizing this road for extracting minerals and illegally transporting weapons to support the separatist forces in the province.
Armenia claimed that the closure prevented Nagorno-Karabakh’s population of around 120,000 from accessing essential food and fuel supplies. Azerbaijan refuted this claim, stating that the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam. However, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities opposed this solution, viewing it as a tactic for Azerbaijan to seize control of the region.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire against ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, who conceded to demands to lay down their arms that next day. Nagorno-Karabakh’s final status remains an open question, however, and is at the center of talks between the sides that began Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
The Azerbaijani military stated that the separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have begun handing over tanks, air defense systems, and other weapons as per the cease-fire agreement reached last week. The process of surrendering arms is still ongoing as of Sunday.
The Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan announced on Sunday that Armenian soldiers who have been disarmed and demobilized will be permitted to depart the area and relocate to Armenia.
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This report was contributed to by Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Aida Sultana in London, who are writers for the Associated Press.
