Karabakh authorities deny Azerbaijanis have entered capital

PanARMENIAN.Net - Conflicting news are coming from Nagorno-Karabakh about the presence of Azerbaijani troops in the outskirts of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Artak Beglaryan said on Saturday, September 23 morning that the Azerbaijani forces have reached the suburbs of Stepanakert and even entered the homes of the Armenian residents there.

The NKR InfoCenter said later, however, that the Azerbaijani military has not entered Stepanakert, and that the Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in certain neighborhoods.

Also Saturday, Karabakh journalist Marut Vanyan shared a video of an armored vehicle of the Russian peacekeeping forces passing through the empty neighborhood of Krkzhan in Stepanakert.

“This neighborhood (Krkzhan) in Stepanakert was completely empty. I was there yesterday,” Vanyan captioned the video on X.

“A while ago peacekeeper’s armored vehicle passed by. Residents of these houses have found refuge in the center of the city.”

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a full-scale offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, killings and injuring hundreds, including civilians. On September 20, the authorities ov Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to a ceasefire on Azerbaijan’s terms, including the dissolution of the Defense Army.