According to Moscow, sniper fire targeted Russian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh after Baku took control of the enclave, leading to the ethnic Armenian exodus. Meanwhile, an Armenian serviceman was killed when Azerbaijan’s forces opened fire in Kut.
Moscow said Russian and Azerbaijani forces on Monday came under sniper fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, days after Baku secured the surrender of Armenian separatists in an offensive to regain control of the mountainous territory.
The report came as Armenia said one serviceman was killed along its shared border with Azerbaijan, underscoring the volatility of the region even after Karabakh’s capitulation last week.
“In the city of Stepanakert (Khankendi) a joint Russian-Azerbaijani patrol was shot at by an unknown person using a sniper weapon. There were no casualties,” the Russian defense ministry said.
Russia deployed its peacekeepers to the mountainous region in 2020 as part of a ceasefire deal it had brokered between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
But mired in its war in Ukraine, Moscow refused to intervene when Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive at the end of September.
Separatists capitulated and said 220 were killed in the fighting, while Azerbaijan reported 199 dead.
Another Armenian serviceman was killed when Azerbaijani forces opened fire near the eastern village of Kut on Monday, Armenia’s defense ministry said.
It also announced two were wounded. Azerbaijan had rejected the claim.
Days after the lightning offensive, fighting has nevertheless subsided.
After nine days of fear and panic, the exodus of Armenians is over, with the Lachin corridor that links Karabakh to Armenia mostly deserted.
AFP journalists on a tour organized by Azerbaijani forces in the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert saw an eerily empty city.
After three decades of Armenian control, the separatist authorities have agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Azerbaijan.
The separatist government, however, said some officials would stay to oversee rescue operations.
President Samvel Shahramanyan “will stay in (Karabakh’s main city of) Stepanakert with a group of officials until the search and rescue operations for the remainder of those killed and those missing… are completed,” the separatist government said.
In addition to the toll from the fighting itself, another 170 people died when a fuel depot exploded during the massive exodus.
Separatist official Artak Beglaryan said, “a few hundred” Armenian representatives remained in Karabakh. He said they included “officials, emergency service, volunteers, some persons with special needs.”
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
