Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan has denied reports emanating from Baku that Russian peacekeepers are transferring large numbers of Artsakh residents to Armenia.

Nersisyan, in a Facebook post today, wrote that such reports are another Baku ploy to create panic in Artsakh.

The minister said Artsakh residents will only be able to depart to Armenia in “extreme cases” and with the permission of the government’s Center for Ensuring Cooperation with the Peacekeeping Troops.

“In order to keep the above process under control and to protect our citizens from possible Azeribaijani provocations in the blocked section of the road, it will be possible to travel from Artsakh to Armenia in case of extreme need, naturally through Russian peacekeepers,” Nersisyan wrote.

The International Red Cross in Artsakh will organize the transfer of Artsakh residents in need of medical treatment in Armenia.