Lachin corridor returns to Azerbaijani control

Baku/21.07.22/Turan: Starting from the last days of May, columns of the Azerbaijani armed forces began to move from the city of Shusha towards Lachin and back, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers.  Reports of the peacekeepers in the Russian Defense Ministry's daily bulletins attest to this.

Note that there has not been any movement of Azerbaijani columns in this direction since the end of the second Karabakh war. Apparently, this is due to the construction of a new road from Armenia to Karabakh and the Azerbaijani columns do not only include military personnel but construction workers and equipment as well.

Progressively, the intensity of these movements and their geography began to expand. Thus, in June, Azerbaijani convoys began regularly going to Zarysli and the town of Lachin, as well as the village of Kichik Galaderesi (Kirov).

Also in June, Azerbaijani columns frequented the villages of Lachin region - Pirjahan, Garykyakha (outskirts of Lachin), the Gizildash mountain (the dominant height on the road between Shusha and Lachin), and the Zarysly and Turshsu settlements on the same road. 

In July, the visits of Azerbaijani columns became almost daily and covered the villages of Lachin region Sus and Zabukh, which the Armenians have to leave. Note that the village of Zabukh is a settlement at the very beginning of the Lachin corridor near the border with Armenia, from which the Armenians refuse to leave.

Note that the columns have been moving most intensively over the past two weeks - 3-4 columns back and forth. On July 19, four columns moved along the Shusha-Zabukh and Shusha Zarysly routes, and on the 20th, there were already eight columns.

According to officials in Baku, the new road should be commissioned this summer, and then the strategic road from Lachin to Shusha and Lachin city itself will finally come under Azerbaijani control. Russian peacekeepers will then be relocated to protect the new road. -02B-