Azerbaijani forces are trying to capture the population centers of Karabakh, he said this afternoon the Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the Russian news agency Interfax

Pashinyan emphasized that is in contact with the leaders of the Karabakh separatists and expects Russian peacekeepers to act in order to stabilize the situation.

For their part, the enclave’s separatist forces said they are trying to “resist” the Azeri army which is trying to advance “deep” into the enclave, after the start of Baku’s military operation in the area.

“Azerbaijani armed forces are trying to advance in depth (…) Defense forces continue to resist Azerbaijan’s offensive along the entire line of contact,” they told X.

Geham Stepanian, human rights ombudsman for the Republic of Artsakh (the name given by Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh)” spoke of “multiple victims” among civilians from the bombings of the Azeri army.

Armenia has charged that Baku’s aim is to carry out “ethnic cleansing” in this disputed enclave in the southern Caucasus, which is inhabited mainly by Armenians.

“Azerbaijan has launched a new large-scale offensive against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, seeking to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing“, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, Armenian diplomacy emphasized that Russian peacekeeping forces in the region must “stop the aggression” of Azerbaijan.

Baku launched a military operation today to retake the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the southern Caucasus, which is inhabited mainly by Armenians.

It is recalled that Russia is a guarantor of the truce achieved after the last Armenia-Azerbaijan war in 2020.

“Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh must take clear and unequivocal steps to end Azerbaijan’s aggressionYerevan reported.

Authorities in the enclave reported numerous civilian casualties in the area after hostilities began.

Ahead of the developments, Moscow stressed that it was notified only “a few minutes” before the start of Baku’s “anti-terrorist operations” in the region.

“Information is circulating in the media, according to which the Azerbaijani side notified the Russian peacekeeping forces “in advance” (…) This is not true. The information was shared with the Russian mission a few minutes before the start of hostilities“, said the representative of the Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova on Telegram.

After the latest developments, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan requested the urgent convening of the UN Security Council.

Baku emphasized that peace with Armenia is possible only in case of “total” withdrawal of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. “The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Azerbaijani region of Karabakh and the dissolution of the so-called separatist regime,” Azerbaijan’s diplomacy said in a statement.