The mountainous area, situated inside Azerbaijan’s international borders, had been governed by its ethnic Armenian inhabitants as the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since a war which followed the fall of the Soviet Union.
However, the Russian military contingent did not intervene when Azerbaijan began a long-running blockade of the region’s supply lines from December 2022, sparking a humanitarian crisis. Moscow’s forces also retreated from their positions between the two sides in September last year, moments before Azerbaijan began a surprise offensive to take full control of the breakaway region. Virtually all of the 100,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh fled their homes in the aftermath.
In December, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, said that “our military contingent continues to carry out tasks as a guarantor of the possibility of building a peaceful life and the return of residents to the region.” But no mechanism has been put in place by which refugees can return home.
News of the pullout comes amid a growing rift has emerged between Armenia and its historic ally Russia. The South Caucasus country recently spurned Moscow by freezing its membership in Russia’s CSTO military bloc before staging joint military drills with the United States. Yerevan is also pushing for closer integration with the European Union.
Abhinav Thawait is a globe-trotting correspondent with a passion for international affairs. With a background in international relations, he offers a global perspective on the most pressing issues around the world. Abhinav’s curiosity takes his to the far corners of the earth, where he seeks to share untold stories and diverse viewpoints.
