Confirmed War Casualties Exceed 220, Excluding the Missing: Artak Beglaryan

Artak Beglaryan, the former state minister of Artsakh, has presented several data regarding the current population of Artsakh and the consequences of the war and the explosion at the fuel depot. He specifically noted:

“1. According to my information, there are a maximum of 40 Armenians remaining in Artsakh under Azerbaijani authority, including supposedly those vulnerable individuals who have been unable to be found to this day. The search efforts for these individuals were carried out by Artsakh rescuers, yielding certain positive results, and now, after the rescuers have left, by the Red Cross. There are precise details about around 15 Armenians remaining in Artsakh, who have been seen and identified. They supposedly decided to voluntarily remain in Artsakh and accept the conditions of submission set by the Azerbaijani authorities.

As far as I know, the last representatives of the Artsakh Republic's authorities left Artsakh yesterday, led by President Shahramanyan. Therefore, it can be said that solely Azerbaijani occupying and genocidal authority is currently operating throughout the entire territory of Artsakh.

Eights officials from current and former positions in Artsakh have been arrested and taken hostage by Azerbaijan on various fabricated charges. These include former Presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, the current National Assembly President Davit Ishkhanian, former state minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan, former Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan, and former Deputy Defense Minister Davit Manukyan.

Regarding the casualties, injuries, and missing persons from the 24-hour conflict and the fuel depot explosion, authorized state bodies continue their fact-finding efforts and update the lists. According to my information, the confirmed number of war casualties exceeds 220, not including the missing; and more than 170 bodies and remains have been found at the site of the fuel depot explosion, again excluding the missing.

I do not have fresh information regarding the missing and the captives, but I am confident that relevant authorities will provide necessary official updates in the near future. In any case, I would like to clarify a question I asked several authorized bodies and officials regarding the rumors suggesting that Azerbaijani services transferred a group of the injured to their territory after the fuel depot explosion. All the officials gave a clear negative response. Thus, the relatives of those missing due to the explosion must unfortunately search among the identified bodies and remains, in cases of unidentifiable bodies, through DNA analyses.

It should also be noted the claims of specialists and eyewitnesses that some of the explosion victims were completely burned in the fire, and no remains can be found. In addition to the irreparable losses suffered by countless families, now the whole population of Artsakh has been forcibly displaced from its homeland, escaping Azerbaijani genocide. In the near future, I will also address various questions regarding the number of displaced persons.”