Day: September 27, 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia has applied to the European Court of Human Rights over the capture of Ruben Vardanyan by Azeri authorities in the illegal checkpoint in Lachin Corridor.

Hasmik Samvelyan, the spokesperson of the Office of the Representative of Armenia on International Legal Matters, told Armenpress that Armenia requested in the application information on the status, detention conditions and state of health of Vardanyan.

Aurora Humanitarian Initiative co-founder and former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Ruben Vardanyan has been arrested by Azerbaijani authorities, his wife said in a statement on September 27.

Առավոտյան ժամը 8-ի դրությամբ Լեռնային Ղարաբաղից բռնի տեղահանված 42 հազար 502 անձ է հատել Հայաստանի սահմանը, որից 22 հազար 800 արդեն հաշվառվել են, իսկ կեսօրի դրությամբ սահմանը հատածների թիվը 5 հազարով ավելացավ՝ դառնալով շուրջ 47 հազար 115, այսօր հայտարարեց Հայաստանի վարչապետի մամուլի քարտուղար Նազելի Բաղդասարյանը։

Կոռնիձոր կայանը հատելուց հետո քաղաքացիները հաշվառում են ստանում կա՛մ Գորիսի, կա՛մ Վայքի հատուկ հաշվառման կենտրոններում, որից հետո տեղի է ունենում տեղաբաշխումը։

«Սահմանը հատած 42 հազար 502 անձից միան 4 հազար 2 մարդ է ցանկացել օգտվել պետության այս աջակցությունից, որը կազմում է ընդամենը 10 տոկոսը», – ասաց Բաղդասարյանը՝ նշելով, որ մնացած քաղաքացիները ցանկացել են իրենց բնակության և կեցության հարցերն ինքնուրույն կազմակերպել։

Վարչապետի խոսնակը ներկայացրեց նաև 42 հազար 502 անձանց բաշխվածությունն ըստ մարզերի․ Սյունիքում՝ 1465 անձ, Վայոց Ձորում՝ 810, Գեղարքունիքում՝ 976, Տավուշում՝ 298, Արմավիրում՝ 200, Արագածոտնում՝ 30, Շիրակում՝ 203, Կոտայքում՝ 20։

Ինչ վերաբերում է կոորդինացիոն կենտրոններում չհաշվառված արցախցիներին՝ աշխատանքի և սոցիալական հարցերի նախարար Նարեկ Մկրտչյանը կոչ արեց նրանց՝ կապ հաստատել միասնական սոցիալական ծառայության տարածքային կենտրոնների հետ կամ հաշվառվել մարզերում և համայնքներում գործող կոորդինացիոն հաշվառման կենտրոններում, որպեսզի պետությունը կարողանա ամբողջական պատկեր ունենալ և արդյունավետ կառավարում իրականացնել։

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Aurora Humanitarian Initiative co-founder and former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Ruben Vardanyan has been arrested by Azerbaijani authorities, his wife said in a statement on September 27.

Ruben Vardanyan’s wife Veronika Zonabend’s statement is presented below.

“My husband, Ruben Vardanyan, the philanthropist, businessman and former minister of state of Artsakh, has been arrested and held captive by the Azerbaijani authorities at the border as he attempted to leave this morning, along with thousands of Armenians escaping Azerbaijani occupation. Ruben stood with the Arsakh people during the 10-month blockade and suffered along with them in the struggle for survival. I ask for your prayers and support to ensure my husband’s safe release.”

Azeri news media have also reported Vardanyan’s arrest.

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. 42,500 forcibly displaced persons have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, the government of Armenia said citing data as of 08:00, September 27.

22,800 of the 42,500 have already been registered.

The registration process continues. 

“4,002 persons were provided with accommodation by the government so far: 1,465 in Syunik, 810 in Vayots Dzor, 976 in Gegharkunik, 298 in Tavush, 200 in Armavir, 30 in Aragatsotn, 203 in Shirak and 20 in Kotayk,” said Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the spokesperson of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“This is the primary aid, our priority is to ensure certain accommodation to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” she added.

The Armenian government offers accommodation to all arriving forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh. Some of the forcibly displaced persons chose to stay with their relatives or friends in Armenia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed new Ukrainian action against Russia following a missile strike last week against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters that Kyiv said killed nearly three dozen officers, including its top commander.

“We clearly see which directions of pressure on Russia need to be strengthened to prevent [its] terrorist capabilities from growing,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on September 26. He also said that an analysis of Russia’s military industry shows that pressure on Moscow should be increased.

“We can clearly see which areas of pressure on Russia should be strengthened so that terrorist possibilities do not increase,” he said. “Sanctions are not enough.”

The Ukrainian military said earlier that 20 combat clashes took place on September 26 along the front line amid air strikes in the Donetsk region and fighting in the area around Bakhmut.

An air strike hit near the key village of Klishchiyivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, during the day, the General Staff said in its evening report.

Ukrainian forces appeared earlier this month to have recaptured Klishchiyivka as part of their drive to liberate the symbolic eastern town of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian military said on September 26 that its forces were “firmly on the defensive” in the area around the embattled city.

RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

In addition, Ukrainian troops “successfully repelled” Russian attacks to the southeast of the settlement of Severny and enemy attacks in the Maryinka area, both in the Donetsk region, the General Staff said.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office reported Russian military shelling in the Kharkiv region, saying that according to preliminary information, a 64-year-old civilian was injured and hospitalized. In addition, residential buildings, commercial buildings, and a car were damaged, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said.

Ukraine’s military claimed earlier on September 26 that nearly three dozen officers with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, including its top commander, were killed in a missile attack on the fleet headquarters last week.

Ukraine’s claim about its strike against the Russian Black Sea Fleet could not be immediately confirmed, and Russia released markedly lower casualty figures from the September 22 attack on the Crimea port of Sevastopol.

But the strike itself on the naval headquarters was the latest in a series of increasingly audacious attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian ships and Black Sea facilities — attacks that Western experts say may have drastically curtailed Russia’s naval operations in the region.

In a statement issued on September 25, Ukraine’s special operations forces cited “new information about the losses of the enemy as a result of the special operation,” claiming that 34 officers, including the fleet commander, were killed when cruise missiles — believed to be either British or French — hit the Sevastopol building. At least 105 others were wounded, it said.

IN PHOTOS: Kyiv has said that its use of heavy weapons supplied by the West is inflicting a significant toll on Russian forces near Bakhmut. RFE/RL cannot independently verify battlefield claims made by either side.

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The Ukrainian statement did not name the naval commander in its statement. The current top officer in the Black Sea Fleet is Admiral Viktor Sokolov.

Asked by reporters on September 26 about the Ukrainian claim, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no comment. And a video released later by state news agency RIA Novosti showed a meeting of top Russian military officials, and RIA said Sokolov was in attendance.

The September 22 attack, which was caught on bystanders’ video and satellite imagery, came on the heels of a missile strike nine days earlier that hit Sevastopol’s main naval shipyard. Two ships — a landing vessel and a diesel submarine — that were undergoing repairs in a dry dock facility were believed to be severely damaged, if not destroyed. The dry dock facility may have also been damaged, which would limit Russia’s ability to maintain and repair its naval ships.

Russia has stepped up its aerial bombardments of Ukrainian sites, targeting in particular Ukraine’s grain-exporting infrastructure in the southern Odesa and Mykolayiv regions. Ukraine has resumed exporting grain despite Russia’s pulling out of a United Nations-brokered deal allowing safe grain shipments in July.

An overnight air strike on another port facility in Izmayil injured two people and damaged infrastructure, the region’s governor said in a post to Telegram on September 26. Ukraine’s military reported shooting down 26 of 38 Iranian-made attack drones it said were launched by Russia.

Russian air defenses shot down a drone on September 26 as it approached the city of Belgorod, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. There were no casualties or damage, according to preliminary information, he said on Telegram.

With reporting by Current Time, AFP, TASS, and Reuters

Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s determination to guarantee Nagorno-Karabakh residents “all rights and freedoms” in line with the country’s constitution and international human rights obligations, including safeguards for ethnic minorities.

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He said the talks with Nagorno-Karabakh in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh will continue.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who called for the emergency meeting of the Security Council along with France, accused Azerbaijan of an “unprovoked and well-planned military attack,” launched to coincide with this week’s annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

Mirzoyan said the offensive targeted critical infrastructure such as electricity stations, telephone cables and internet equipment, killed more than 200 people and wounded 400 others, including women and children. 

He said the “barbarity” of Azerbaijan’s aggression and deliberate targeting of the civilian population “was the final act of this tragedy aimed at the forced exodus of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Bayramov strongly denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing. He said representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh asked during Thursday’s talks for humanitarian aid, including food and fuel for schools, hospitals and other facilities that government agencies will provide soon.

Bayramov said Armenia kept more than 10,000 “armed formations” and heavy military equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 agreement. During the operation that started Tuesday, more than 90 of their outposts were taken, along with substantial military equipment, he said.

He held up photos of equipment he claimed was seized.

Mirzoyan urged the Security Council to demand protection for civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh; to immediately deploy a UN mission to monitor the human rights, humanitarian and security situation; to seek the return of prisoners of war; and to consider deploying a UN peacekeeping force to the region.

Azerbaijan’s move to reclaim control over Nagorno-Karabakh raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume. The 2020 war killed over 6,700 people.