Russian peacekeepers shift safely on Khankendi-Lachin road

Certain changes have been seen in the deployment of Russian peacekeepers on the Khankendi-Lachin road since December 19.

However, the Azerbaijani eco-activists, who have been protesting for the ninth day on the road demanding an end to the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh economic region, are not intending to take advantage of this deployment and move forward, Report informs from the scene.

This again shows that the action is peaceful. The main aim of the action is not to confront the peacekeepers, but to create conditions for the monitoring of the mineral deposits in the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

The protesters also demand to put an end to the environmental pollution in Karabakh.

In addition, the peacefulness of the protests is also evidenced by the safe passage of the humanitarian-purpose vehicles from Khankendi to Armenia through this road. 

Following the talks with the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on December 3 and 7, 2022, a delegation consisting of specialists from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy, Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Committee on Property Issues (operating under the Ministry of Economy) and the country’s mining company AzerGold was supposed to conduct preliminary monitoring of the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on Azerbaijan’s territory, where peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, as well as related environmental and other problems. However, due to the peacekeepers’ inactivity, the monitoring did not take place.