Day 264: Over 1800 Citizens in Artsakh Denied the Opportunity for Surgery

The Information Headquarters of Artsakh has released an update from the government regarding day 264 of the blockage. It is noted that due to the suspension of planned surgeries in all medical facilities of Artsakh, approximately 1890 citizens have been deprived of the opportunity to address health issues through surgery, with an increase of about 20 cases in the last 3 days.

“To date, under the mediation and escort of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 754 patients have been transported from Artsakh to Armenia, and an additional 70 with the escort of Russian peacekeepers, for appropriate medical treatment. In recent days, another 343 individuals (mainly students and citizens of the Russian Federation) have been transported to Armenia under the escort of Russian peacekeepers. Additional Azerbaijani obstacles to the activities of the ICRC have led to the suspension of transfers for nearly a month in May, and a further suspension occurred on June 15, after which transfers continued with intermittent breaks and additional obstacles until today. The transfers by Russian peacekeepers were suspended on June 15 and resumed only on August 21, but only in one direction—from Artsakh to Armenia, which was halted again on August 28 following the abduction of three Artsakh students by Azerbaijani armed forces.

As a result of the blockade, over 6000 individuals, including approximately 800 children, have been unable to return to their homes. Some have returned home with the support of the ICRC and Russian peacekeepers. No civilians have freely traveled the Stepanakert-Goris highway (Lachin corridor), and incidents of bilateral movement have decreased by about 218 times; the existing cases involved only ICRC and Russian peacekeeper support (during the 264 days, there were 2,966 entries and exits instead of 646,800). Notably, in the last 3 days, there were only 11 recorded instances of citizens entering and exiting by ICRC vehicles.

No vehicles of Artsakh citizens have crossed the blocked route, and the overall movement of vehicles has been almost 81 times less than it should have been without the blockade (during 264 days, there were 2,972 entries and exits instead of 242,880, and this too, only by ICRC and Russian peacekeepers). This means that in the last 3 days, there were only 3 entries and exits by ICRC vehicles.

Approximately 18 times fewer vital goods have been imported solely by the ICRC and Russian peacekeepers than should have been without the blockade (during the 264 days, about 5,715 tons instead of approximately 105,600 tons, with 0 tons in the last 3 days). During the blockade, Azerbaijan has fully or partially interrupted gas supply from Armenia for a cumulative total of 197 days, while electricity supply has been entirely disrupted for 235 days. This has led to daily outages and additional emergency disconnections, causing the closure or reduction of operations in numerous enterprises.

Since the start of the blockade, 1,710 economic entities (40% of the total) have suspended their operations due to the impossibility of functioning under blockade conditions. As a result of the blockade and disruption of vital infrastructure, it is estimated that approximately 17,000 people have lost their jobs and sources of income, which is over 90% of private sector workers. Construction works for 32.6 kilometers of road, dozens of kilometers of water lines, irrigation systems for thousands of hectares of farmland, 3,717 housing units, and more than 40 social and industrial infrastructure projects have stopped. The total damage to the economy of the Republic of Artsakh during the blockade has amounted to approximately $501 million, resulting in a failure to secure nearly 55% of the projected annual GDP indicator ($903 million),” the message states.