15:57, 10 February 2026

The Vardanyan case investigation has been completed.

A Baku court has declared the trial of former Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, accused of war crimes, complete.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, on December 18, 2025, at a hearing of the Baku Military Court, the prosecutor proposed sentencing former Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan to life imprisonment. Vardanyan noted that the trial does not meet the criteria for a fair trial.

The Baku Military Court has been hearing the case of Ruben Vardanyan since January 2025. The charges brought against Vardanyan, including war crimes, carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment. On December 30, 2025, it was announced that the trial was postponed indefinitely, as the panel of judges retired to deliberate on the criminal case against 15 Karabakh leaders. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report, "Vardanyan and 15 Karabakh leaders: key points about the Baku courts".

Today, at the court hearing in the Ruben Vardanyan case, the defense was given the floor. Following the closing arguments of the defense and the defendant, presiding judge Zeynal Agayev asked the prosecution and defense whether they would submit a draft of the final court decision.

The parties stated that they would not submit a draft of the final decision, after which the presiding judge declared the trial over, APA reports.

The court retired to deliberate to render a final decision, which will be announced "upon return from the deliberations," the report states.

The same information was reported today by another pro-government agency, Trend. The reports do not specify when the court plans to announce its decision or provide details of today's speeches by the lawyers and the defendant.

The same court has been hearing the case of 15 former leaders and residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, detained in September-October 2023, since January 2025. They were charged with war crimes against Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people under 20 articles of the Criminal Code. All defendants denied guilt, but on February 5, the court sentenced them to life and other long-term prison terms. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report entitled "Key Points on the Sentences of Former Leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh".

As a reminder, Ruben Vardanyan only announced his decision to renounce his Russian citizenship and move to Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2022. He explained this by his desire to support local residents who were "in a grave psychological state." In October 2022, Vardanyan agreed to head the government, and became Minister of State on November 4, 2022. Vardanyan's defense pointed out that the prosecution accuses Vardanyan of events that occurred, in part, many years before his arrival in Karabakh.

Azerbaijani citizens recognized as victims also testified to this in court. In particular, the victims spoke about shelling in the Kelbajar region, which came under the control of Baku following the 44-day war of 2020, and in the Zangilan region, which was also occupied by Azerbaijan in 2020.

At the hearing on December 9, 2025, the victims testified in court about shelling by Armenian units of Lachin, which came under the control of Baku even before Ruben Vardanyan became a Karabakh official.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420681