Yerevan: Russia had not informed Armenia about looming Azeri attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian side had not informed Armenia about Azerbaijan’s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, September 19, the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Armenpress, although Baku did say earlier they had notified the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh in advance.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, claimed, however, that said information was communicated to the Russian contingent “a few minutes before the start of hostilities”.

Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan said Tuesday that at at least two civilians, including one child, have been killed in Azerbaijani assault on Tuesday, September 19.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry confirmed the attack, noting that the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh to help protect the Armenian population there had been notified about the attack in advance.

The Azerbaijani military earlier accused the Karabakh military of staging a provocation and planting a mine in territories controlled by Azerbaijan, which had allegedly caused the death of two civilians.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army denied the accusations on Tuesday. The Defense Army has been denying various accusations from Azerbaijan from quite some time now.