Two years after Azerbaijan and Armenia ended a war that killed an estimated 7,000 people, tensions between the countries are again in a dispute over a 6-kilometer road known as the Lachin Corridor. An Azerbaijani blockade of the road has led to shortages in areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that are mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
Tensions Remain High Over Breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Region
- By AP
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A couple walks in the fog in Stepanakert, the biggest city of Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely ethnic Armenian breakaway region of Azerbaijan, on December 15, 2022. This was at the beginning of the blockade in the Lachin Corridor, the only land connection between this area and Armenia.
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The blockade has been staged by people claiming to be environmental activists from Azerbaijan, who say Armenia has been illegally mining in Nagorno-Karabakh. The activists have been backed by the Azerbaijani authorities.
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With the blockade threatening food, medicine, and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh's 120,000 people, thousands of Armenians took to the streets in Stepanakert on December 25 to protest against Azerbaijan.
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Armenians with a poster reading "Putin! Keep Your Word" stand in front of Russian peacekeepers at a checkpoint outside of Stepanakert on December 27.
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A 2,000-strong peacekeeping force from Russia was sent in to keep the peace and ensure that the Lachin Corridor remains open under a Moscow-brokered deal to end the 2020 conflict.
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A man is reflected in a mirror near a house set on fire by departing ethnic Armenians in the village of Cherektar in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 14, 2020. Under the terms of the agreement, Armenians had to vacate certain parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Azerbaijani servicemen guard a checkpoint at the Lachin Corridor. Armenia contends the protests are orchestrated by Azerbaijan, and the United States has called on Baku to lift the blockade.
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Customers visit a nearly empty food store in Stepanakert on January 7. After more than a month of blockages, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have told RFE/RL that there are food, medicine, and fuel shortages.
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Schoolchildren warm themselves around a stove in their classroom in Stepanakert.
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Food coupons at a family home in Stepanakert. The local Armenian authorities implemented a rationing system on January 20, covering rice, pasta, buckwheat, sugar, and sunflower oil.
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Two boys warm themselves next to a stove on January 18. Authorities also ordered schools to be closed due to the gas and electricity shortage.
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Drivers wait to fill their cars in Stepanakert. Azerbaijan also has sporadically cut gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh -- most recently on January 21.
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A woman and her son have dinner by candlelight at their home in Stepanakert.
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A boy at home in Stepanakert on January 18
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Two elderly women warm themselves near a heater in Stepanakert.