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Azerbaijani Armed Forces had withdrawn from the village of Farukh in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on March 27.
Farukh was captured by Azerbaijani forces on March 24. A day after the attack on the village, a series of Azerbaijani drone strikes claimed the lives of three soldiers of the unrecognized Artsakh Defense Army. The attack Farukh and the drone strikes were serious violations of the Russian-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In a statement, the Russian MoD said Azerbaijani forces withdrew from Farukh following talks mediated by the commander of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani and Armenian sides are yet to confirm the withdrawal.
Despite the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Farukh, the Russian MoD reported two new ceasefire violations in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Two violations of the ceasefire regime were recorded by the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Askeran region. As a result of the skirmish, two people from each side were wounded,” the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian MoD for ignoring what it claimed to be ceasefire violations by Armenian forces. In a statement, the Azerbaijani MoD called on Armenian forces to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh will likely remain tense. Azerbaijan appears to be trying to take advantage of the war in Ukraine, which reportedly forced Russia to withdraw some of its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
