Conflicts
Kremlin confirms troop withdrawal from Karabakh in Caucasus
Traces of the conflict: Wall with bullet holes and the words Karabakh. photo
© Aziz Karimov/AP/dpa
Last fall, Azerbaijan conquered the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict region. Now the Russian soldiers who were once supposed to guard peace in the region are also packing their bags.
The Kremlin has reported the beginning of the withdrawal of Russian troops from the inter-republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. “That is actually the case,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to media inquiries, according to the Interfax news agency. He did not give any details about the timing of the operation.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had ceded the Nagorno-Karabakh region, traditionally predominantly populated by Armenians, to Azerbaijan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the flare-up of ethnic conflicts, it split off from Baku in 1994 with the help of Yerevan. In 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured some of these territories. In autumn 2020, based on an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a ceasefire, Russia sent troops to the crisis region to act as a buffer to prevent further hostilities. According to official information, the Russian contingent amounted to 1,960 military personnel.
However, Russian soldiers did not intervene in Azerbaijan’s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. The leadership of the separatist region was forced to give up after brief, intense fighting. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians then fled to the heartland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time that, according to the agreement, Russian soldiers should remain in the region until November 2025. Because of the changed situation, it will be necessary to see in the future what will happen to the troops. Russia has been waging a war against its neighbor Ukraine since 2022.