Citizens Block Entrances to Armenian Office of the Red Cross

Students from Artsakh continue their protest in front of the Armenian office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in support of Vagif Khachatryan, who was kidnapped days ago. A correspondent from Sputnik Armenia reports that they are standing at the entrance and have given the ICRC time to meet their demands.

Earlier, it was reported that on July 29, the daughter of Vagif Khachatryan, Vera Khachatryan, who was abducted by Azerbaijani border guards, demands to secure a video call with her father to personally ensure that he is well or, indeed, alive. “We are not going anywhere; we are waiting. We have given them time again; we are waiting until tomorrow for them to at least allow the girl to speak to her father via video call,” one of the participants in the protest said to Sputnik Armenia.

It should be recalled that on December 12, 2022, a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes blocked the Stepanakert-Goris road connecting Artsakh to Armenia under the pretext of environmental reasons. They left the area on April 28, as on April 23, Azerbaijan established a checkpoint on the Lachin road, taking complete control of it. Artsakh has also been deprived of gas and electricity supplied from Armenia.

During this time, patients in urgent need of medical assistance are being transferred from Artsakh to Armenia with the mediation and escort of the ICRC. One of them, Vagif Khachatryan, was abducted by representatives of the Azerbaijani border service on July 29. The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has announced that he has been arrested. Vagif Khachatryan is accused of allegedly forming a criminal group that participated in crimes against the residents of the Meshali village in the Khojaly region on December 21, 1991.