By Emilio Luciano Cricchio
Five Armenian prisoners of war returned to Armenia from Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening local time, according to Sputnik Armenia. The prisoners, accompanied by former commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Karabakh Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, arrived in Yerevan’s Erebuni Airport.
“Russia will continue to work to ensure compliance of the provisions of the trilateral agreement,” reads a press release from the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh. The statement refers to the November 10 Russia-brokered ceasefire, which stipulates that both sides must return all POWs.
The names of the released captives are: Mels Ambardanyan, Rafik Karapetyan, Jora Manukyan, Hovsep Manukyan and Sedrak Soghomonyan.
As of today, 113 Armenian POWs have returned from captivity in Azerbaijan. The exact number of prisoners remaining in Azerbaijan is unknown but human rights groups estimate that close to 200 more remain in captivity.
