Azerbaijani authorities awarded with state medals and departmental signs a group of specialists of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, who participated in mine clearance in the territories in Nagorno-Karabakh, passed under the control of Baku, the republic's Emergencies Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"A group of Russian specialists who took part in the demining operations on the liberated territories of Azerbaijan were awarded the medal of the Republic of Azerbaijan "For Merits in Military Cooperation" and the badge of the AR Ministry of Emergency Situations "For Cooperation," the ministry reported. The awarding ceremony was held in the Karabakh regional center of Azerbaijan's Emergencies Ministry in the Aghdam region.
On March 3 Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that Russian pyrotechnicians have discovered and defused more than 17,000 munitions on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since the beginning of December. The ministry added that humanitarian demining has been completed in three districts of the region so far.
The situation in the conflict zone around Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, and active hostilities started there. Baku and Yerevan have disputed ownership of the region since February 1988, when it announced its secession from the Azerbaijani SSR.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the full cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of districts came under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor. After the deployment of peacekeepers, the situation stabilized and only one ceasefire violation was recorded. Tens of thousands of Karabakh residents who left their homes during the hostilities have returned with the support of the peacekeeping contingent.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: EMERCOM of Russia
Based on materials from TASS