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 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. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |