RTWed, 11 Nov 2020 19:50 UTC
© Russian Defense Ministry
More than 400 Russian peacekeeping troops and their equipment have been successfully airlifted into Armenia's capital, Yerevan. They then proceeded to the armistice line with Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan went into effect at midnight Moscow time on Tuesday. So far, twenty Il-76 military transport aircraft have landed in Yerevan, carrying over 400 members of the 15th Peacekeeping Brigade and their equipment.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday night that the first military convoys were already en route to set up observation posts along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor, the road connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia proper.
Under the terms of the peace deal, 1,960 Russian troops and hundreds of vehicles will replace Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The troops are part of the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, designated peacekeepers from the Central Military District. Their command post will be at Stepanakert, the regional capital.
Tuesday's deal is supposed to end the six weeks of fighting over the disputed region, in which Azerbaijani forces have made significant advances into territory held by ethnic Armenians since 1994. Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave that seceded from Azerbaijan in 1991, during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The conflict had been largely frozen for decades until it flared up again in late September.
Comment: 'Nikol is a traitor': Armenian opposition parties lead protest in crisis-hit Yerevan, demand resignation of PM Pashinyan
Over a thousand protesters have gathered in Yerevan to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan following the Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal. They are accusing him of being a traitor for signing a truce with Baku.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Pashinyan announced that the country had agreed to end hostilities with Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict which began in late September. After repeatedly claiming that Armenia was winning the war, he is now coming under attack for what many locals see as a surrender.
On Wednesday afternoon, demonstrators met in the center of Yerevan, chanting "Nikol is a traitor." Led by politicians from a wide range of opposition parties, the protest has brought together Armenians who disagree with the government's decision to end the conflict. Eyewitness reports suggest that the police have arrested individual protest leaders, but the participants have continued undeterred. MP Gagik Tsarukyan, the head of Prosperous Armenia, the country's second-biggest party, was detained by law enforcement.
Earlier this week, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed a joint statement agreeing to a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh. The agreement states that Azerbaijani and Armenian troops must remain in their current positions, an arrangement which is to be enforced by Russian peacekeepers. This means that Baku will keep the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh it regained control of during the conflict. According to Pashinyan, Yerevan had no choice, as the country's resources were quickly becoming depleted.
On September 27, the frozen conflict suddenly erupted once again. The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia is decades old, with both countries believing they have legitimate claims to the territory. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians. Baku had always considered the enclave to be illegally occupied by Yerevan.
If there was oil, or other valuable minerals no doubt the US Government would be willing to help with "restoring democracy!" Especially as they have shown just how well democracy works in the US lol.