A Resident Taken by Azerbaijani Soldiers or Crossed the Border Himself: Details

This morning, around 07:30, the National Security Service of Artsakh received a report about the disappearance of resident Armen Abriki Verdiyan, born in 1971, from the Aygestan community of the Askeran region. It turned out that he had found himself in an area under the control of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan due to getting lost in the area between the communities of Nakhijevanik and Ughtasar in the Askeran region.

To learn more about the incident, LURER.com contacted the head of the Aygestan community, Mher Vanesyan, who stated that the incident occurred last night. He said, 'I cannot imagine how he could have crossed the border since the Azerbaijani positions are quite far from our village, approximately 20 km deep.' He added that he probably crossed on foot.

Discussing the health condition of the resident who crossed into Azerbaijan, he mentioned that he did not notice any problems with his fellow villager. 'He has no health issues and no social issues. He has four children—three sons and one daughter. One of the sons is in the military, the other is a police officer, and the two younger children are in school,' explained Mher Vanesyan, adding that the lost resident is also a construction worker.

When asked how the family learned about Armen Verdiyan crossing the border, the community head responded that he was unaware and that the family did not contact him when they could not find their father for several hours. 'The family went to the police and reported that Armen had been missing since yesterday, but they probably did not even realize what could have happened to him. I just found out about the incident,' our interlocutor noted.

In response to the question of whether Armen Verdiyan had any work to do near the border and if that was the reason for him being there, the community head excluded this possibility, stating, '20 km away is a border zone; he could not have had any business there. Azerbaijani soldiers took him, or he crossed the border himself; we cannot say.' He added that there is still no news about negotiations, and they are ongoing.