Day 72: Lachin rally goes on with smoothly passing of vehicles

February 21 makes up 72 consecutive days of the ongoing picketing of the Khankandi-Lachin road by Azerbaijani youth, eco-activists, and NGOs.

In the backdrop of Armenia’s spread remarks about the “humanitarian crisis” or the road “blockade”, vehicles constantly pass through unhindered.

Azernews reports that a total of two passenger cars and 15 trucks of Russian peacekeepers, as well as a convoy of 6 passenger cars and 1 truck of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), drove along the Lachin-Khankandi road today.

Following discussions with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on December 3 and 7, 2022, Azerbaijani specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology, and Natural Resources, the State Service for Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company were to conduct primary monitoring on illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on Azerbaijani territory. However, the monitoring failed due to the provocation of ethnic Armenians.

After the Russian peacekeepers' failure to provide the necessary conditions for the Azerbaijani agency representatives to carry out their duties in the area, a group of eco-activists, NGOs, and public representatives have taken to the street in protest at the peacekeepers' repugnance to live up to their obligations in line with the November 10, 2020, peace deal to maintain peace and order in the region, and oust the Armenian troops from the region and prevent illegalities. However, time proved that the Russian peacekeepers are driven by the interests of Russia rather than the idea coming from the essence of the notion of peacekeeping as universally understood.