By Ani Avetisyan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated Thursday in a Facebook Live session that according to their “assessment”, there is no “direct threat” for Karabakh’s Armenian population and that the residents should stay in their homes, with the Russian peacekeepers ensuring “safe and dignified” life for them in the region. In the event of a mass evacuation, the prime minister said that Armenia is ready to host 40,000 families from Karabakh.

Following the Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian communities, the preliminary death toll from Nagorno-Karabakh mounted to over 200. Around 400 were wounded. The number of casualties might still increase as the Stepanakert authorities are still unable to reach a number of communities .

Following the ceasefire agreement, the residents of Stepanakert found themselves in a chaos, with complete lack of electricity, having to spend the third day in the bomb shelters as the Azerbaijani side continued violating the ceasefire regime, shooting in the direction of Stepanakert. 

A number of families were separated, unable to find each other, some losing connection with their kids and trying to find them through social media posts. 

According to Pashinyan, a mass evacuation should not be a Plan A or even a Plan B for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, yet, the country is ready to host the refugees if necessary. A working group was set up “at the beginning of the week” to deal with the issues concerning refugees, Pashinyan explained, saying that they had decided not to make the information public at the time. 

Pashinyan also dismissed the allegations that Armenia is prohibiting evacuations and blocking the Lachin corridor, saying that those who spread such information are aimed at triggering “political turmoil” and “chaos” in Armenia. He went on to indirectly accuse the Russian peacekeeping mission of that.

“Over ten thousand people were invited to the Stepanakert airport the day before, they were told to come, [they were told that] they might move to Armenia. Then they were photographed and filmed, after which they were told that the Republic of Armenia does not allow them to move to Armenia,” he said. 

The calls and demands for massive evacuation of Karabakh Armenians from the besieged region emerged as the authorities in Stepanakert agreed to surrender to Azerbaijan and discuss the “integration” and disarmament of the Artsakh Defence Army in a meeting in Yevlakh earlier today.

While Karabakh Armenian authorities have given any details about the outcomes of the meeting, except that more meetings are being planned for the near future, the Azerbaijani side claimed that the next meetings might pave the way for a “peace agreement and conflict resolution.”

Azerbaijan also pledged to send food and fuel to Karabakh, reportedly requested by Karabakh Armenian representatives in the talks. 

Pashinyan tied Azerbaijan’s positive stance with the United Nations Security Council meeting planned for today to discuss the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Russians’ responsibility 

During the live Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia is not trying to “throw responsibility” on others, indirectly responding to Russia’s accusations, meanwhile blaming the Russian peacekeeping contingent for failing to fulfil their obligations. 

Repeating his earlier statement, Pashinyan claimed that by brokerng the ceasefire between Karabakh and Azerbaijan, Russia took “complete” responsibility for ensuring the security of the region’s Armenian population. 

The ceasefire agreement between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan was reached through Russian mediation, after more than a day of fighting and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas. 

Speaking about Russia’s efforts to mediate the ceasefire Pashinyan asked that if Russia was able to “negotiate the ceasefire” why wouldn’t it “negotiate to prevent” the attack when many were warning of an impending offensive. 

More than seven thousand Karabakh Armenians were displaced from their homes in different regions of Karabakh and moved to Stepanakert due to Azerbaijan’s attack, some of them spending the night in front of the Russian military base. Several villages and communities were reported to be captured by the Azeri troops, while the city of Martakert and a number of villages remained under siege, with the population unable to flee.