Russia suddenly starts withdrawing “peacekeepers” from Nagorno-Karabakh
How much will the military reserves be able to release?
The Russian Federation began withdrawing the so-called “peacekeeping contingent” from Nagorno-Karabakh ahead of schedule and without explanation. This has already been officially confirmed by the Kremlin against the backdrop of numerous videos of columns of Russian armored vehicles leaving the region.
It should be noted that according to the agreement between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which was signed on November 10, 2020 and effectively ended the Second War over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian military was supposed to be present until 2025.
Russian peacekeepers are leaving Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region 3.5 years after the start of their mission in the region.
Kremlin has just confirmed the withdrawal. https://t.co/7UGm54aQMF pic.twitter.com/RXS5qazcOr
– Clash Report (@clashreport) April 17, 2024
It should also be noted that there was an immediate assumption that these forces would be sent by the Kremlin to the frontlines in Ukraine. And despite the fact that this is obvious, it is unlikely to change anything globally. Because the maximum known number of Russian “peacekeeping troops” in Nagorno-Karabakh was 1960 soldiers, 90 armored personnel carriers, and 380 vehicles and special equipment. This was stated by the so-called Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation during the introduction.
The basis of this contingent was the units of the 15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, which in 2022 was spotted in the Kyiv region from Brovary. According to published journalistic investigations, this Russian formation set up torture chambers in the places of deployment on the occupied Ukrainian territory, and at least torture and murder of civilians are known in the villages of Peremoha, Kyiv region, and Novyi Bykiv, Chernihiv region. By order of the racist leader Putin, this brigade was given the title of “Guard”.
Thus, the total number of the “peacekeeping contingent” in Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to be much lower than in 2020. As of February 2024, all of his tasks are to maintain supervisory posts, the number of which has been almost halved compared to 2020.
Also, this contingent no longer played any role, as in September 2023, Azerbaijan fully regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a military operation that lasted less than a day.
