Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers freely move along Lachin road

The rally by representatives of Azerbaijani non-governmental organisations (NGOs), held in Karabakh in the zone temporarily monitored by the Russian peacekeepers, has been going on for an eleventh day now.

Five vehicles of Russian peacekeepers have been freely moving along the Lachin road without facing barriers, which once again shows that the rally participants do not create any obstacles, as Trend’s correspondent based in Shusha reported. 

Azerbaijani environmental activists and NGO representatives continue demanding to put an end to environmental terror in the Karabakh economic region in the vicinity of Shusha city, near the post of the Russian peacekeepers.

A delegation consisting of specialists from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Service on Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy and the "AzerGold" company was supposed to carry out preliminary monitoring of the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in the Azerbaijani territory, in which peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, as well as review the related environmental and other problems as a result of negotiations with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent held on December 3 and 7, 2022.

The specialists planned to inspect, in particular, the mineral deposits of the Qizilbulag gold deposit and the Demirli copper-molybdenum deposit, conduct monitoring in various other areas, create a registry of properties and assess potential damage and risks to the environment, groundwater and surface water sources.

However, despite the group being accompanied by Russian peacekeepers when arriving, it faced provocations from the Armenian side as well as from the peacekeepers. 

Thus, the planned initial inspection and monitoring were not carried out because the Russian peacekeepers not only failed to create the necessary conditions, but deliberately violated this process.