Stepanakert: activists urge Russia to take steps protect Karabakh people

An appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to ensure the safety of residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, up to an increase in the peacemaking contingent, was signed by 19 activists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since March the situation on the Azerbaijani-Nagorno-Karabakh border has aggravated. The Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has called on the international community to recognize the Karabakh's right to independence. Human rights defenders assert that acts of shelling and absence of conditions for normal life lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.

The appeal to Putin recalls that the agreement dated November 10, 2020, reads "a complete ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict zone," while "Azerbaijan and Armenia shall stop at their positions."

"However, after signing the agreement, Azerbaijan has repeatedly violated the ceasefire; and recently, violations have acquired a particularly aggressive character," the signatories have claimed.

They present cases of civilians' deaths in Karabakh. Thus, in November 2021, a worker was killed in a shootout when repairing the water supply system; and last October, a tractor driver from the Martakert District perished.

According to the office of Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson, since November 9, 2020, three civilians and 10 military servicemen perished in shelling of Karabakh; 38 other people have been wounded.