The Russian Defense Ministry said they occupied a hill near the Lachin corridor connecting Karabakh to Armenian which has been blocked by Azerbaijan for more than three months. It said the Azerbaijani action violated a key term of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the six-week war in Karabakh.
“The command of the Russian peacekeepers is taking measures aimed to prevent the escalation of the crisis situation and mutual provocations by the warring parties,” the ministry said in a statement.
The peacekeepers have demanded that the Azerbaijan “withdraw units of the national armed forces to their previously occupied positions,” added the statement.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that its troops “took necessary measures” to stop Armenia sending weapons and military personnel through dirt roads running parallel to the blocked section of the Lachin corridor.
The ministry has repeatedly alleged such shipments in recent weeks, threatening to take “resolute” actions in response. Armenia and Karabakh’s leadership have strongly denied the allegations.
The authorities in Stepanakert reiterated those denials when then they reacted to the Azerbaijani troop advance. They condemned it as a gross violation of the truce accord and urged the Russian peacekeepers to take “concrete steps to eliminate its consequences.”
The Azerbaijani forces crossed the “line of contact” near the site of a March 5 shootout that left three Karabakh police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead.
According to the Armenian side, an Azerbaijani sabotage group ambushed a vehicle carrying the Karabakh policemen before being repelled by Karabakh soldiers deployed nearby. The Russian peacekeepers essentially confirmed that version of events.
Baku claimed, however, that its soldiers came under fire as they tried to check the police van allegedly smuggling weapons from Armenia.
Tensions in the conflict rose have risen significantly since then, with the Armenian government repeatedly accusing Baku of preparing the ground for another attack on Armenia and Karabakh.