01:50, 23 January 2026

Vagif Khachatryan underwent surgery in Yerevan.

Vagif Khachatryan, a resident of Nagorno-Karabakh who returned to Armenia from imprisonment in Azerbaijan, underwent surgery in Yerevan; doctors described his condition as stable.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", Gevorg Sujyan, David Davtyan, Vigen Euljekjyan, and Vagif Khachatryan were handed over to Armenian representatives at the Hakari Bridge and are on Armenian territory, Nikol Pashinyan reported on January 14. According to a statement by the National Security Service of Armenia, the return of the captives was carried out as a practical result of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. All four were placed in Yerevan clinics after their return; Khachatryan was experiencing an exacerbation of his chronic heart disease.

Vagif Khachatryan, an ethnic Armenian resident of Nagorno-Karabakh, was detained on July 29, 2023, at the Lachin checkpoint while attempting to travel to Armenia for medical treatment. In Azerbaijan, he was accused of attacking the Azerbaijani village of Meshali in 1991. Khachatryan pleaded not guilty at a hearing in the Baku Military Court. The court questioned the victims, residents of the village of Meshali, one of whom demanded a life sentence for Khachatryan. Khachatryan was sentenced to 15 years in prison; in January 2024, the sentence was upheld by the Baku Court of Appeal.

70-year-old Vagif Khachatryan underwent open heart surgery on January 22 at the Nork-Marash Medical Center, Sputnik Armenia reported.

The surgery went without complications, and following its results, the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit, according to Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan.

"His condition is assessed as stable, consistent with the extent of the surgery," Avanesyan was quoted as saying by the News Armenia news agency.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420161