Muradov: No return of Armenian PoWs was planned, people were misledApril 9, 2021 - 14:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov said Friday, April 9 that there were no plans of returning Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan the day before, Hraparak.am reports. Muradov's comments came after rumors about another batch of POWs returning to Armenia flooded social media on Thursday, which were later confirmed by a government spokesperson to be true. A plane did, in fact, land in Yerevan's Erebuni military airport, except it was empty. "[It is] false provocation. Ask them. They mislead the population," Muradov said in response to a question about statements from Armenian officials alleging that some captives were on their way to Yerevan. When asked if there had been such plans at all, the Russian military official said: "No. It was an ordinary, simple working visit." After learning that their sons were not returning on Thursday, the parents left Yerevan and blocked all the roads connecting the country to Shirak, Sputnik Armenia reported on Friday morning. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |