Russia says situation around Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is deteriorating - Interfax

Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with Armenian support after a bloody post-Soviet ethnic conflict in the early 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijan successfully won back part of the territory controlled by the separatists. Under the terms of a subsequent ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to protect the remainder of the separatist-held territory.

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday the situation in and around the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was deteriorating amid clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Interfax news agency said.

Earlier, separatist authorities in the ethnically Armenian enclave declared a partial mobilisation, amid growing frictions with Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with Armenian support after a bloody post-Soviet ethnic conflict in the early 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijan successfully won back part of the territory controlled by the separatists.

Under the terms of a subsequent ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to protect the remainder of the separatist-held territory. Russia said the situation in the areas controlled by its peacekeepers was getting more tense and reported at least one violation of the ceasefire by Azeri forces, Interfax said.

Fighting erupted around the territory, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, in recent days, with Baku claiming to have killed 4 separatist soldiers and wounded 15 more.