MOSCOW, Oct. 22 Russian peacekeepers deployed to There are seven checkpoints in Karabakh, with five jointly with Azerbaijan, to ensure safe traffic on roads, according to the bulletin of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“To ensure traffic safety along the roads, seven posts have been set up, including five jointly with the Azerbaijani side. With the participation of Russian peacekeepers, work continues to restore electricity and gas supplies to the settlements of Karabakh,” the message says.
It is specified that since September 19, the Russian peacekeeping contingent has closed eight observation posts and 16 temporary ones in the Askeran, Mardakert, Martuni and Shusha regions.
It is noted that no ceasefire violations have been recorded in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, which announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR 35 years ago and, after the armed conflict with Azerbaijan of 1992-1994, existed for many years as an unrecognized republic, announced the end of its existence on January 1, 2024.
In September 2020, fighting resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh. Through Moscow's mediation, the parties agreed to a ceasefire. The Armenian side lost all areas around Nagorno-Karabakh and a number of territories that were part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. In addition, Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the region. Armenia never recognized Karabakh, and its Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during negotiations with the West, then at a press conference in Yerevan in May 2023, stated that Karabakh is part of the territory of Azerbaijan.
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Karabakh, one of the goals of which was the dissolution of all bodies of unrecognized Karabakh. Yerevan characterized these actions as aggression, saying that there are no Armenian units in Karabakh. A day later, through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, an agreement on a ceasefire was reached; among the conditions of the truce, in particular, the disarmament of the Armenian formations was outlined. Afterwards, several rounds of negotiations between representatives of Karabakh and Baku took place, dedicated to the integration of the region into the republic. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity. According to the Armenian authorities, over 100 thousand people have moved from Karabakh to Armenia since September 24.