08:55, 8 October 2020

Media: Karabakh residents link shelling intensification with imminent truce

A woman rendered homeless gathers her belongings, October 6, 2020. David Kagramanyan / the information centre of NKR / PAN Photo / Reuters

The losses of the Defence Army are much higher than those announced; soldiers lack ammunition, volunteers in Nagorno-Karabakh assert. Local residents associate the shelling strengthening with Azerbaijan's desire to push forward the frontline before an imminent ceasefire.

According to official data, 27 civilians perished and 141 others were wounded in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the latter would not disclose its losses among military servicemen. According to the Karabakh authorities, its 208 soldiers and 23 civilians perished, and about 90 people were wounded.

According to the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper, local residents expect that the intensification of shelling in the conflict zone after October 6 has to do with an imminent truce timed to the October 9 sitting of the Eurasian Economic Union Commission on with the participation of the Russian Prime Minister.

Russian authorities have distinguished between the Karabakh conflict and their obligations to Armenia. Russia can defend Armenia under Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but not the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, the press secretary of the Russian president has explained.

Arthur Ovannisyan, a volunteer, has suggested that losses of the Armenian side are huge. "200 people died in front of my eyes; and in total, there were thousands of casualties," he said.

Meanwhile, Karabakh residents continue believing in the victory of their army.

Let us note here that the parties to the Karabakh conflict are persistently urged for a ceasefire.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 7, 2020 at 09:52 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.