The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has facilitated the transfer of 12 more severely ill patients from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia amid the blockade, the Artsakh Ministry of Health reported.

The patients with serious oncological and cardiovascular diseases were transported to specialized medical facilities in Armenia on Friday, the ministry said in a statement.

Ten patients, who had been transferred to Armenia for medical treatment, returned to Artsakh together with an accompanying team.

Planned surgeries remain suspended in Artsakh hospitals due to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the sole road connecting Artsakh to Armenia, which started back on 12 December.

Seven children are in neonatal and intensive care in the Arevik Medical Center.

Five patients, including one critically ill, remain in the intensive care unit of the Republican Medical Center.

The Red Cross has helped transfer a total of 194 patients from Artsakh to Armenia for urgent treatment since the start of the blockade.