The Armenian Weekly. Amid Azerbaijan’s ongoing violations of the October 9 humanitarian ceasefire, the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Armenia held a one-on-one meeting on Monday. The meeting, which was planned well in advance, addressed collaborative efforts between Armenia and Russia, under the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, to end the hostilities in Artsakh and establish a strong ceasefire. During a joint press conference, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan emphasized that Azerbaijan’s refusal to comply with the ceasefire agreement is the latest manifestation of the existential threat that has been facing Artsakh for the past several decades. He upheld the need to introduce verification mechanisms, which are currently being developed in cooperation with Russia and the other two OSCE co-chair countries, to implement the cessation of hostilities before moving forward with negotiations.
Dispelling ongoing fabricated claims of ownership by the government of Azerbaijan, Armenian military officials insisted on Monday that the town of Hadrut remains under the complete control of Armenia’s Armed Forces. During an evening press conference, Armenian Ministry of Defense (MoD) representative Artsrun Hovhannisyan said attempts have been made by Azeri forces to infiltrate the town, but those attempts have been repelled, refuting once again Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s claims of its “liberation.” The same applies to Talish, where Azeri forces are said to be in the vicinity of the region, but the village remains under Armenian control. Armenia’s Air Defense units destroyed one SU-25 fighter jet on Monday during a large-scale offensive that included three dozen combat UAV flights launched toward the north. Hovhannisyan said that the military operation was conducted with the support of Turkish intelligence and under the cover of the Turkish air force.
Azerbaijan’s General Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against Russian war correspondent Semyon Pegov from the WarGonzo Telegram channel. He is accused of “[illegally] crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan” and inciting “public calls for terrorism” and “against the state.” Pegov has been reporting from Artsakh and has posted videos of interviews with Armenian volunteers and members of the Artsakh government as well as videos urging Russian citizens to travel to the war zone and offer their assistance to Armenia. In its second interim report detailing Azerbaijani atrocities against the population of Artsakh, the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman asserted that the government of Azerbaijan intimidates international journalists with the aim of “preventing the coverage of hostilities and dissemination of objective information to the international community.”
Meanwhile, Artsakh’s Emergency Situations Rescue Service is taking proactive measures to find unexploded ordnance in Stepanakert. So far, the Rescue Service sapper teams have located and safely disposed of 673 Turkish and Israeli rocket-propelled grenades.
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Neutralized, unexploded ordnance in Stepanakert (Photo: Artsakh Ombudsman)
The situation overall remains “critical” according to Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, who expressed his pride and gratitude to the nation in a short Facebook post on Monday. “The issue of salvation of the homeland is on the altar,” he wrote. According to officials in Artsakh, the military death toll has surpassed 500 after the Defense Ministry released the names of 96 fallen soldiers today.
Lillian Avedian
Main caption: Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, October 12, 2020 (Photo: Armenian Foreign Ministry)