MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Russian peacekeepers have found and destroyed 168 explosive devices in Nagorno-Karabakh over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Friday.

"In the past 24 hours, 168 explosive devices were found. They were taken to a specially equipped training ground and destroyed," the Defense Ministry said adding that two power transmission lines and four cell towers had been cleared up from mines.

Apart from that, the Russian peacekeepers are helping peaceful life to get back on track and are also overseeing the return of refugees.

"In the past 24 hours, 1,777 people returned to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia," the Defense Ministry said, underscoring that a total of 18,968 refugees had come back since November 14.

Apart from that, the ministry said that military doctors are being deployed to the region.

"A complex assessment has been carried out into the operation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s medical institutions in conditions of COVID-19 epidemic requirements," the ministry added.

The Defense Minister pointed out that the ceasefire holds along the entire contact line.

Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian peacekeeping contingent is based on the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Central Military District. Russian observation posts are deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The Stepanakert-based command of the peacekeeping operation monitors the situation round-the-clock.