Billionaire and former head of government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ruben Vardanyan, who has been under arrest in Baku since September last year, has stopped his hunger strike. This is stated in a statement from his family.

Ruben Vardanyan's family finally managed to persuade him to end his hunger strike, as his health and conditions of detention are deteriorating. During a short conversation, family members informed him about the growing pressure on Azerbaijan from government officials in different countries. Having heard that measures were being taken around the world to release detained Armenians, Ruben Vardanyan gave in to the urgent requests of his family and reluctantly agreed to suspend the hunger strike for the sake of peace of mind of his loved ones.

At the end of September 2023, the Azerbaijani Border Service detained Vardanyan when he tried to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. Since then he has been under arrest. Azerbaijan accuses him of financing terrorism and participating in the creation and activities of illegal armed groups.
On April 19, 2024, Vardanyan announced a hunger strike, which, according to him, began on April 5. He demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of himself and other Armenian prisoners illegally held in Baku.”
Ruben Vardanyan is the former owner of the investment company Troika Dialog, founder of the Skolkovo business school. In September 2022, Vardanyan announced that he had renounced Russian citizenship and moved to Nagorno-Karabakh. He was the head of government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from November 2022 to February 2023.

Ruben Vardanyan, arrested in Azerbaijan, ends his hunger strike