BAKU, September 20. /TASS/. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has denied Armenian social media reports of an Azerbaijani shelling attack on the city of Khankendi (Stepanakert).

"Allegations posted on some Armenian social media accounts that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces once again shelled the city of Khankendi are untrue," the ministry said in a statement.

"We would like to reiterate that units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are using high-precision weapons to hit and destroy only legitimate military targets and military infrastructure," the ministry stressed.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the parties to the conflict to stop the bloodshed, end hostilities, prevent civilian casualties, and go back to trying to settle the Karabakh issue diplomatically.

Pashinyan announced at a Council of Europe summit on May 17, 2023, that Yerevan recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty within the borders incorporating Nagorno-Karabakh.