President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan said that during a search operation on the territory of the republic, who came under the control of Baku, they found six Armenian conscripts, who were considered missing for 70 days.
Among those found are Arsen Ayvazyan, David Sahakyan, Nikolai Stepanyan, Artur Harutyunyan, Arman Armaganyan and Ruslan Tumanyan.
The search for the Armenian servicemen was carried out by employees of the NKR State Service for Emergency Situations, Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“I express my gratitude for this significant success to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, thanks to whose direct efforts intensive work continues to find the missing and, of course, the return of the bodies of the dead,” Harutyunyan wrote on his Facebook on Sunday, December 20.
In addition, the head of the NKR expressed special gratitude to the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, who accompanied the military and employees of the republic’s state service in emergency situations.
Earlier on the same day, the RF Ministry of Defense reported that 42,051 refugees had returned to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh since November 14. At the same time, 306 people returned to NKR over the past day.
A new round of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh ended on November 10 after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding agreement.
According to the document, hostilities cease in the region, after which Russian peacekeepers are brought into it. The agreement also provides for the transfer of several regions of the region to Azerbaijan, the exchange of prisoners and the return of refugees to the NKR.
Russian observation posts have been set up along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor that connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The command of the peacekeepers is located in Stepanakert.