Late in the evening of March 28, a Telegram channel of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Artsakh spread information that the command of the Russian peacekeeping mission had decided to deploy reserve forces to stop the advance of the Azerbaijani armed forces in the village of Parukh in Artsakh.

“On March 24, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces crossed the line of contact between the parties in the Parukh settlement, violating the first point of the trilateral statement. The command of the Russian peacekeeping mission has decided to deploy reserve forces to block the further advancement of Azerbaijani troops. At the moment, the settlement is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping mission,” they wrote in the message and attached photos.

The information immediately appeared on the pages of state and public media.

It was exactly one day before the publication of these shots, on March 27, when the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that as a result of the negotiations, the Azerbaijani side had withdrawn its units from Parukh. This was followed by a harsh response from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry and the denial that there had been any change in the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Parukh and surrounding areas.

Media.am’s study showed that the photos were really taken in Parukh. We compared them with satellite imagery to be sure.

 Distributed photo and the same place according to Google Earth.

This photo shows one of the two main roads of Parukh, where the cars of the Russian military are located. Approximate coordinates: 40.01968185043133, 46.80540126339295.

From another image of Google Earth we see 4 consecutive buildings, the first brown, the others with white roofs, which also coincide with the photographed buildings.

We are also guided by the mountains in the southern part of the village, which coincide with the scene in the photo.

In addition to the photos, a video published on another Telegram channel with the caption “Parukh village shot from a drone” was widely spread (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). According to the Telegram channel, the footage was taken by the Russian peacekeepers.

This video also confirms that the Russian armed forces (at least during the filming) were stationed in Parukh.

The essential thing is the height of Karaglkh

In a March 28 statement, the Artsakh Information Headquarters also confirmed that “the village of Parukh in the Askeran region is now in the control zone of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Artsakh.”

At the same time, they emphasize from Artsakh that the Azerbaijani troops continue to remain in the same strongholds in Karaglkh, near Parukh. Meanwhile, the Karaglukh plateau, located north of the Parukh settlement, is important for both Armenian and Azeri troops, which is of strategic importance from the point of view of controlling the surrounding areas.

The Russian Defense Ministry reports that the Azerbaijani forces have left Parukh, but there is no word yet on the units formed at different points in Karaglkh.

Ophelia Simonyan