MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russian peacekeepers have helped more than 27,000 refugees to return to Nagorno-Karabakh, including more than 1,100 during the past day, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.
"On December 1, 2020, Russian peacekeepers escorted another convoy of buses with refugees returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia. As many as 1,168 people arrived in Stepanakert from Yerevan," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, more than 27,000 refugees have returned to their homes since November 14, 2020.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region. The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh basically comprises units of the 15th separate motor rifle (peacekeeping) brigade of the Central Military District.
The Russian peacekeepers have set up observation posts along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. The peacekeeping mission’s command is stationed in Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation in the area is monitored round-the-clock.