Caucasian Knot | Armenian soldier disappears on Azerbaijani border

For the fourth day in a row, a search for a conscript is underway who disappeared from his military unit deployed near the contact line with Azerbaijani units, the Armenia General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has reported. The private left his unit without permit, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has suggested.

The soldier in question named Mkrtchyan has voluntarily left his military unit stationed in the vicinity of Vardenis in the Gegarkunik Region. His whereabouts is still unknown, Gor Abramyan, the head of the GPO, has stated. In particular, the version that he is on the Azerbaijani side has not been confirmed.

The military unit, from where the 18-year-old conscript has disappeared, is located on a problematic border section, where an enhanced alert regime has been introduced.

On May 14, Yerevan applied for military help to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). In its turn, Baku insists that the soldiers had not violated the border, but only clarified it and occupied the territory belonging to Azerbaijan. None of the parties is happy with a forceful solution to the issue, the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.