Baku claims Russian peacekeepers relocated from Karabakh to Ukraine, Moscow denies reports
Russian peacekeepers left Karabakh
Since the beginning of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, large number of equipment and personnel of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh left this territory along the Lachin corridor twice. According to data from Baku, confirmed by the Ukrainian side, Russian servicemen have been transferred to Ukraine. The Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan denied this information, but Azerbaijani sources prove that it is, indeed, true, and provide video materials as evidence.
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On March 9, 2022, the Azerbaijani caliber.az portal, known for its closeness to the authorities of the country, released a video about the withdrawal of “almost half” of the military equipment and personnel of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in Karabakh since the signing of a tripartite statement dated November 10, 2020.
The source indicated that the footage was captured by the surveillance cameras installed by the Azerbaijani side in the area of the Lachin corridor.
Some time later, sources in Ukraine spread the news about the arrival of parts of Russian troops withdrawn from the territory of Armenia.
On March 26, another group of military equipment and personnel of Russian peacekeepers left Karabakh.
“Russians have withdrawn 4 pieces of UAZ patriot, 1 pc. of Tiger, 3 pcs. of KamAZ (kung, repair vehicle and fuel truck), one Ural and one GAZ-66”, the source notes.
Interestingly, this happened almost immediately after the Azerbaijani army occupied the village of Farrukh and the height of Dashbashi in the east of Karabakh, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent was temporarily stationed.
Moscow denies withdrawing peacekeepers
During a press conference on March 30, a journalist from the Azerbaijani agency ARA addressed the Russian Ambassador to Baku, Mikhail Bocharnikov, with a question:
“The Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published information about the transfer of troops from Karabakh to Ukraine. Some time ago, images of the redeployment of Russian peacekeepers circulated on social media. What can you say about this, have the peacekeepers moved from Karabakh to Ukraine?”
Bocharnikov denied the information and answered the question very briefly:
“No, this is not true. Peacekeepers from Karabakh did not go to Ukraine”.
Expert commentary
In his commentary on the issue of the transfer of Russian military personnel from Karabakh to Ukraine, Azerbaijani political scientist Zardusht Alizade partly confirmed the words of the ambassador. According to him, the peacekeepers left Karabakh, however, not for Ukraine, but for Armenia. In turn, Russian servicemen stationed in Armenia went to Ukraine.
“Peacekeepers from Karabakh were sent to the 102nd part of the Russian army, located in the city of Gyumri in Armenia. In turn, Russian servicemen of this unit went to Ukraine. Let me explain what is the reason for such castling.
About 5,000 servicemen serve in the military unit in Gyumri. Of these, about 3,500 military personnel are citizens of Armenia. They are there on the basis of a military contract and receive a salary from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
If Russia sent Russian troops from Gyumri to Ukraine, there would be practically no Russians left there. Therefore, the peacekeepers had to be redeployed from Karabakh to Armenia.
The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh, according to the terms of the tripartite statement of November 10, 2020, should consist of 1960 military personnel. In fact, they say there are more of them. Be that as it may, at present there are an order of magnitude fewer peacekeepers in Karabakh”, Alizade said.
