Azerbaijani border guards detained the former state minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Ruben Vardanyan. He held this position from November 4, 2022 to February 23, 2023.
This was reported by the Border Service of Azerbaijan.
Vardanyan was detained at the checkpoint in the Lachyn corridor when he was trying to leave Karabakh for Armenia. He was taken to Baku, where "he was handed over to the relevant state authorities."
The Armenian media previously wrote that Baku has a list of NKR representatives who are being demanded to be extradited.
Vardanyan is considered a pro-Russian businessman and politician. In an investigation by "The Washington Times", he was called one of the richest people in Russia and a close friend of Putin. Vardanyan is accused of laundering money through offshore companies and transferring funds to those close to the Putin regime.
- On September 19, Azerbaijan informed about the start of an "anti-terrorist operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh to "restore constitutional order." After a day of fighting and shelling, the unrecognized NKR capitulated, and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced the restoration of the countryʼs sovereignty.
- On September 21, a meeting of representatives of the Armenian population of Karabakh and the authorities of Azerbaijan took place in the city of Yevlakh. At it, the parties discussed the reintegration of the Armenian population of Karabakh into Azerbaijan, the restoration of infrastructure, and humanitarian issues. The Armenians of the region were promised fuel, food and medical aid.
- The armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic agreed to lay down their weapons and surrender their equipment. Azerbaijan demands to reform all NKR forces and dissolve its government.
- On September 27, Azerbaijan officially announced its losses in the battles for Nagorno-Karabakh — 192 soldiers were killed, 512 were wounded.
- The Armenian side did not disclose its losses. The day before, the Armenian government announced that 125 bodies had been delivered to the countryʼs morgues from Karabakh, but some of them were those killed in an explosion at a gas depot near the Stepanakert (Khankendi) — Askeran highway, where people were queuing for fuel.
- Meanwhile, people are fleeing en masse from Karabakh to Armenia. They drive through the only free corridor — Lacynskyi. The line of cars on the road can be seen from space. Almost 49 thousand people left the region on September 27, their number will grow.