Fake "statement" of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh appears on Telegram

An unofficial Telegram channel has published a statement saying that the Russian peacekeeping contingent, stationed in Karabakh, uses toponyms from the maps of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff.

Nevertheless, a number of media outlets, including Sputnik Armenia, mentioned this post as the Russian peacekeeping contingent's "response" to the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry's  official statement regarding the names of settlements on the Azerbaijani territory.

A source in the Russian Defence Ministry told  NEWS.ru that the ministry has no connection with the channel, which published a post on behalf of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.  

The source pointed out that only the main channel of the Russian Defence Ministry is the official one. The main channel of the Russian Defence Ministry on Telegram is also indicated as the official one on the webpage of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

According to the post, the Russian Armed Forces and the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh use toponyms from the topographic maps of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

“Baku’s criticism regarding the name of the Magavuz settlement is surprising, as other non-Azerbaijani toponyms were previously and repeatedly used in the bulletins of the Russian Defence Ministry,” the Telegram channel wrote.

However, the Russian Defence Ministry pointed out that links to all official channels of the Russian Defence Ministry are posted on its website.

The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry earlier expressed indignation at the fact why in the bulletins of the Russian Defence Ministry the name of the Azerbaijani settlement was used as "Maghavuz. The Azerbaijani Defence Ministry stressed that the toponyms used do not correspond to the official geographic names in Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani authorities repeatedly stressed that the territorial unit "Nagorno-Karabakh" does not exist. There is a Karabakh economic zone, created on the basis of the Azerbaijani president’s decree.