Russian peacekeepers killed in Nagorno-Karabakh shelling

A car with Russian peacekeepers onboard has been shelled in Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the service members have been killed, the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Wednesday.

The ministry said that Russian and Azerbaijani agencies were investigating the incident at the site, adding that the shelling was conducted using firearms. The number of killed service members was not specified.

The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-proclaimed republic that is legally part of Azerbaijan but whose largely Armenian population broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, said they had agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Russia’s peacekeeping mission in the region. The agreement also stipulates the complete withdrawal of “the remaining Armenian Armed Force service members” from the region and the full disarmament of the “Nagorno-Karabakh defence army”, essentially handing control of the entire region back to Azerbaijan.

The Kremlin declined to comment on the news, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissing Armenian anger at Russia for failing to step in to avert the violence as “groundless”, saying that Azerbaijan’s military intervention constituted “de jure actions in its own territory”.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday that Armenia had not taken part in the talks held between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry launched local “counter-terrorist operations” in Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 September to “reinstate constitutional order”.