Over 1,000 refugees return to Nagorno-Karabakh following Armenia-Azerbaijan ceasefire

Over 1,000 refugees have returned from Yerevan to Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh region in the last 24 hours with aid from Russian peacekeepers. Sharing the information, Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said that the refugees arrived in the region in buses that were escorted by patrols of Russian peacekeepers as well as military police. As on date, a total of 36,000 refugees have returned to their permanent residences in Nagorno-Karabakh. This comes just weeks after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region following the six weeks long war over the disputed region. 

"Russian peacekeepers escorted regular buses with refugees returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from the territory of the Republic of Armenia. In total, 1,136 people arrived from Yerevan to Stepanakert on buses," informed the Russian Defense Ministry in an official statement on Tuesday. 

"Round-the-clock monitoring"

In another official statement, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that the Russian peacekeepers have been providing security to the refugees returning to their residence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region along with humanitarian aid. The Russian force is also aiding in the restoration of the infrastructure facilities in the area and conducting 'round-the-clock monitoring' of the situation in the region from '23 observation posts'. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to exchange the prisoners of war captured by Armenia’s army and the corpses of the soldiers and victims killed during the military confrontation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 

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This move comes after Russia brokered a peace agreement and urged the warring sides Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately restore the economic and transport ties in the Nagorno-Karabak region, and felicitate the return of the refugees. In accordance with the agreement, Armenia and Azerbaijan declared a complete ceasefire and halted all military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in November 2020. Following this move, the Russian Federation deployed Russian peacekeepers to monitor the ceasefire and military operations in the area. 

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(With inputs from ANI/Sputnik)