Nagorno Karabakh surrenders to Azerbaijan and dismisses its army

The authorities of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) signed surrender to Azerbaijan, sources in the government and the Defence Ministry of the republic said.

The Nagorno Karabakh army has lost almost half of its forces in a day. It consisted of approximately 2,500 military men, and about 1,000 of them were killed after Azerbaijan launched a military operation in the unrecognised republic.

Azerbaijan started the operation with a group of 60,000 fighters and lost from 300 to 500 men. The Nagorno Karabakh army also ran out of ammunition.

The Nagorno Karabakh Army will be dismissed and disarmed. Its equipment and weapons will be removed from the territory of the region and disposed of. In turn, Azerbaijan must ensure a corridor for the evacuation of residents and the remaining military forces of Karabakh.

Azerbaijan suspends military operation in Nagorno Karabakh

Azerbaijan decided to suspend the military operation in Nagorno Karabakh. The agreement was reached taking into account the appeal from representatives of the Armenian residents of the region. The appeal was received through the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

The Ministry of Defence clarified that the agreement was approved on September 20 at 13:00 (12:00 Moscow time).

As part of the agreement, Azerbaijan put forward the following conditions:

• formations of the Armed Forces of Armenia in Karabakh must leave combat positions;
• they should completely disarm and leave the territory;
• illegal Armenian formations must be disbanded;
• they must hand over all weapons and heavy equipment.

The Nagorno Karabakh authorities suspended the fire unilaterally. The Azerbaijani forces managed to break through to the positions of the Armenian troops and take control of a number of heights and strategic road junctions. As a result, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic accepted the proposal from the Russian peacekeeping mission for a ceasefire.

Russia reacts to Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno Karabakh

Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Azerbaijan carried out anti-terrorist measures on its own territory.

"De jure, it goes about the actions that the Republic of Azerbaijan took on its territory," Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov also called Armenia's accusations against Russia groundless. According to him, Russia proceeds from trilateral agreements between Moscow, Yerevan and Baku on the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Peskov recalled that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recognised the Azerbaijani borders as of 1991.

Kremlin official spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the remarks from Armenian officials, who accused Russian peacekeepers of inaction:

"We do not accept such reproaches against us, especially after the official decision of the Armenian side to recognise Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan."

Russian President Vladimir Putin also commented about the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh:

“Russian peacekeepers are doing their best to protect civilians. We are in constant contact with the authorities in Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku. We hope that we can achieve de-escalation and transfer the problem to a peaceful channel.”

The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that Russian peacekeepers continued performing their functions, despite the aggravation of the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. The command of the Russian peacekeeping mission maintains contact with Baku and Yerevan to prevent any escalation. Russian peacekeepers also evacuated more than 2,000 civilians from the region, more than half of them children.

Azerbaijan's military operation: The results

According to Anar Eyvazov, a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, the Azeri military neutralised a military unit in the area of the settlement of Tepekend. During local anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh, firing points, a military radio engineering centre, an ammunition depot and a cannon installation were also destroyed.

In addition, the Azeri military captured mortars and trucks with ammunition that belonged to Armenian forces as trophies. The Azerbaijani army annihilated combat positions, military vehicles, artillery and anti-aircraft missile launchers and other military equipment of the Armenian armed forces.

Azerbaijan thus took control of more than 60 combat positions of Armenian army units, captured over 20 combat vehicles, 40 artillery systems, 30 mortars, two anti-aircraft missile systems, six radio-electronic combat stations and other equipment.

Armenia comments on Nagorno Karabakh agreements

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia needed stability and wanted the hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh to stop. According to him, Yerevan will continue monitoring the situation in the region.