Russian Foreign Ministry: militants from Syria and Libya deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia has information about the transfer of mercenaries from Syria and Libya to the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh, which could lead to further escalation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“According to the information received, militants of illegal armed formations, in particular from Syria, Libya, are being transferred to the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in order to directly participate in hostilities,” the statement said. The Foreign Ministry stressed that, according to Russia, such processes lead to further escalation of confrontation and “create long-term threats to the security of all countries in the region.”

“We call on the leadership of the states concerned to take effective measures to prevent the use of foreign terrorists and mercenaries in the conflict and to immediately withdraw them from the region,” the Russian Foreign Ministry added. Which countries were meant, the department did not specify.

For the first time, Russia commented on reports of the transfer of foreign mercenaries to the conflict zone. Prior to that, Armenia and Azerbaijan made mutual accusations of using militants from Syria in the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan also accuses Baku of participating in the battles of the Turkish military and equipment. In particular, according to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the crashed Armenian Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down by a Turkish F-16, while the appearance of the Turkish Air Force in the conflict zone was called by Yerevan a condition for the use of tactical missile weapons against Azerbaijan. Ankara and Baku reject these accusations.

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On September 27, for the first time in 26 years since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the Azerbaijani army launched a large-scale offensive along the entire line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh. The reason for this was the shelling from the Armenian side in Baku. In battles, heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, aviation and heavy armored vehicles are used. The parties have already reported on dead soldiers and destroyed armored vehicles from each other, there are also casualties among civilians. General mobilization and martial law have been declared in Armenia, martial law has been partially introduced in Azerbaijan.