Russian Defense Ministry accused on Saturday the Azerbaijani military of violating the November 2020 ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh, publicly assigning for the first time the blame for violating the 2020 deal though incidents between the armed forces of arch enemies Azerbaijan and Armenia have been frequent in recent months.
Expressing extreme concern over the spiraling tensions in the region, Moscow accused Azerbaijani troops of launching airstrikes against the forces of the breakaway region, entering the Russian peacekeeping mission’s zone in Nagorno-Karabakh, and of using Turkish-made drones to strike Karabakh troops.
Although it is predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh which is currently patrolled by Russian peacekeepers, is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement, Azerbaijani troops have entered the Russian peacekeeping force’s zone of responsibility over the past two days and set up an observation post, conducting in the meantime four strikes on units of the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh, near the settlement of Furukh, using Bayraktar TB-2 unmanned drone.
Urging all parties in the region to show restraint and to adhere to the standing agreement, the MoD said that the peacekeeping force is currently trying to ease tensions and taking measures to resolve the situation and return the troops to their original position.
Responding to the Russian statement later in the day, Baku has accused “illegal” Armenian forces in the region of trying to launch a covert attack on Azerbaijan’s armed forces, expressing regret over the alleged one-sided Russian account of events and blasting the use of the term Nagorno-Karabakh.
The authorities of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, on the other side, have announced temporary restriction of rights and freedoms, invoking martial law, prohibiting any public assemblies, strikes, or rallies, and suspending the work of any organizations deemed to be working to undermine the region’s security.
Armenia has also warned that a humanitarian catastrophe is possible in Karabakh since gas supplies to the disputed region were cut off following repair work, accusing Azerbaijan of deliberately leaving Karabakh’s ethnic-Armenian population without natural gas.
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