November 9, 2020
A damaged building from Azerbaijani shelling of Stepanakert
The Peacekeeping Command Center will be Located in Stepanakert
Russia has already dispatched its peacekeepers to the Karabakh conflict zone, according to an announcement from the country’s defense ministry.
Russia IL-76 military places transported 1,960 peacekeepers and 470 military equipment, the Azatutyun.am’s Armenian service reported on Monday, citing the Russian defense ministry.
The peacekeepers are headed to the Karabakh conflict zone in accordance to an agreement announced earlier Tuesday (local time) signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan and Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan. In addition to deployment of Russian peacekeepers, the agreement stipulates that the regions of Fizuli, Aghdam, Kelbajar, Lachin and Shushi will be surrendered to Azerbaijani control. At the same time, Russian border guards will now patrol the Armenian border and oversee the transport between Azerbaijan through Nakhichevan via Meghri.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the peacekeepers were transported from the Western Russian city of Ulyanovsk. The peacekeepers are from the Russia’s 15th mobile detachment brigade.
Per the agreement, a peacekeeping command center will be established in the region. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the center will be headquartered in Stepanakert.
The peacekeepers will be stations along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border, or the line of contact, as well as at the corridors between Armenia and Artsakh.
According to the agreement, the sides will retain whatever territory they had seized during the war. Based on earlier military briefings, Azerbaijan has seized the southern portion of Artsakh, as well as areas in the northeast in Talish.