Almost 50 thousand Armenian refugees returned to Nagorno-Karabakh

"The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensure the safe return of citizens to their places of permanent residence, provide humanitarian assistance, and restore civilian infrastructure," said a statement posted on the ministry's website on the evening of January 4.

The peacekeepers, in cooperation with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Nagorno-Karabakh, continue to search for the bodies of those killed during the escalation of the conflict, according to a newsletter published on the same day on the website of the Ministry of Defense.

"During the operation of the hotline for collecting information about the missing participants in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, 562 appeals were received. All appeals were forwarded to the search groups of the Center for Reconciliation of the Parties," the publication says.

"The Russian Defense Ministry did not take into account all the returned refugees : about 30 thousand of them left Armenia without the accompaniment of Russian peacekeepers," Minister of Territorial Administration and Development of Nagorno-Karabakh Zhirayr Mirzoyan said on November 30, 2020 in an interview with the "Caucasian Knot".