An ambulance at the entrance of the Stepanakert Medical Center

Transport of patients in need of critical care from Artsakh to Armenia resumed, after Azerbaijan had halted all movement on the Lachin Corridor earlier this month, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday.

The ICRC, which has been facilitating such medical transfers since the Artsakh blockade started on December 12, said that 17 patients from the Artsakh Hospital were transported to various medical centers in Armenia. The group also added that 11 others, presumably relatives, accompanied the patients.

The ICRC added that 17 patients who were transported to Armenia for treatment will return to Artsakh through the organization’s mediation.

According to the latest health data, 31 children are currently receiving inpatient treatment at the Arevik Medical Center in Artsakh, five of whom are in the neonatal and intensive care units.

Another 83 patients are currently hospitalized at the Stepanakert Medical Center, six of whom are in the intensive care union with three of them in critical condition.

After an attempt by Azerbaijani forces to plant a flag on Armenia’s sovereign territory was rebuffed on June 15, Azerbaijan completely such down traffic along the Lachin Corridor to humanitarian transports by the ICRC and the Russian peacekeeping units. Last week a concrete barricade was placed at an illegally opened checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor.

On Saturday, Russian peacekeepers were able to bring in urgently-needed medical supplies from Armenia to Artsakh by helicopter, the Artsakh Information Service said.

“A one-year-old child who has been diagnosed with hemorrhaging encephalitis and was in critical condition for two days in the neonatal and intensive care unit of the Arevik medical center of Artsakh, was airlifted to a specialized medical center in the Republic of Armenia on June 24 by a helicopter of Russian peacekeepers to receive appropriate medical care,” the Artsakh information center reported.