Armenia and Azerbaijan have begun exchanging groups of prisoners of war, part of an “all for all” swap mediated by Russia after a bloody conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.
A view shows a bus transporting Armenian prisoners of war at Erebuni military airport in Yerevan, Armenia. Reuters
The six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region and its surrounding areas was brought to a halt by a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal last month.
The fighting locked in territorial gains for Azerbaijan and has stoked anger in Yerevan, prompting street protests against Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
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Russian peacekeeping forces have deployed in the region.
Late on Monday, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said a group of 44 Armenian prisoners had returned to Armenia after Russian mediation, the Interfax news agency reported.
A Russian military aircraft also flew a group of 12 Azeri prisoners to Baku as part of the same swap, Rustam Muradov, the commander of Russia’s peacekeeping forces, said in a defence ministry video published on Tuesday.
Azeri authorities confirmed their arrival.
Reuters