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Some 43,000 refugees return to Nagorno-Karabakh - Russian defense ministry

The bus traffic was escorted by patrols of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and military police

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Nearly 43,000 refugees have come back to Nagorno-Karabakh since the ceasefire entered into force in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Tuesday.

"Today 351 people were delivered by buses from Yerevan to Stepanakert. The bus traffic was escorted by patrols of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and military police. <...> In total, some 43,000 refugees have returned to their places of residence in Nagorno-Karabakh," the ministry said.

Russia’s peacekeepers are in Nagorno-Karabakh in accordance with the agreements confirmed by the November 9 joint statement on a full ceasefire in the region made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh is comprised of units from the 15th separate motor rifle (peacekeeping) brigade of the Central Military District.

The Russian peacekeepers have set up observation posts along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. The peacekeeping mission’s command is stationed in the area of Stepanakert, the de facto capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. The situation is being monitored round-the-clock.

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