Russia also intends to send 90 armored personnel carriers and 380 vehicles to the disputed region. The move follows the signing of a ceasefire agreement by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Russia intends to send 1,960 peacekeepers, 90 armored personnel carriers and 380 vehicles to the mountainous region, where Azerbaijan has had major territorial gains in vicious fighting over the past month and a half.
The agreement spurred celebrations in Azerbaijan but fury in Armenia, where demonstrators took to the streets and stormed government buildings to denounce their leaders for losses in the territory, which broke from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s.
After the ceasefire, Azerbaijan will retain control over areas seized in the fighting, including the key town of Shusha, while Armenia agreed to a time frame to withdraw from large parts of the region.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the agreement as "unspeakably painful for me and for our people," while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it amounted to a "capitulation" by Armenia.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara and Moscow would together supervise the ceasefire at a "joint center to be designated by Azerbaijan in its lands saved from Armenia's occupation."
The deal came after Russia's military revealed on Monday that one of its attack helicopters had been shot down in Armenian territory near the border with Azerbaijan, leaving two crew members dead. Azerbaijan's military accept responsibility for the incident and apologized to Russia.
Advertisement
Russia has maintained close ties with both Armenia and Azerbaijan since the end of the Soviet era. Upholding the ceasefire deal, Armenia reported that "relative calm is being maintained from 6 am GMT," according to a statement made by the Armenian military.
"Active combat operations on the whole front line are suspended," the statement said.
Fresh fighting over the territory erupted in late September. More than 1,400 people have been confirmed killed, including dozens of civilians, but the death toll is believe to be significantly higher.
UN chief Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said "the secretary general is relieved that the deal has been agreed to a cessation of hostilities."
"We are very grateful to Russian authorities for what they have done," said Dujarric. "The sense of relief is really about the hope that this will end the suffering of civilians."
lc/shs (AFP, dpa)
Human toll in Azerbaijan-Armenia fight for Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at war again over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus for over a month. Three ceasefires have failed. The conflict is taking its toll on civilians.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Residential area reduced to rubble
The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of deliberately bombing civilian targets. For example, part of the city of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh's famous 19th-century cathedral was destroyed in early October. According to authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region , Azerbaijani troops are just a few kilometers from the strategically important city.
Image: Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure/Reuters
Destroyed livelihood
Ragiba Guliyeva stands in the ruins of her house in Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city, which was hit in a rocket attack. "I was in the kitchen when beams and stones rained on me all of a sudden," she said. "I screamed as loudly as I could." Ganja is dozens of kilometers from the front. The government of Azerbaijan blames Armenian troops for the attack.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Mourning the children
Several people were killed in the attack on Ganja, according to Azerbaijani authorities. Guliyeva's 13-year-old grandson, Artur, was one of the victims. At a church service, teachers and classmates paid their respects. According to official figures, at least 130 civilians were killed on both sides.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Volunteering for the front
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh say 1,200 soldiers have died since fighting started in September. Azerbaijan's government has not reported the extent of its military losses. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently mentioned a total of 5,000 people dead on both sides. Young men keep on volunteering for service at the front, such as these fighters in the Nagorno-Karabakh capital, Stepanakert.
Image: Aris Messinis/AFP
A decades-old conflict
The region has been controlled by Armenian separatists since Azerbaijan's government lost control in a territorial war from 1988 to 1994. A fragile ceasefire has been in effect since. The painting in a school in Barda honors a soldier who died.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
International intervention?
Propaganda and war rhetoric govern everyday life in Azerbaijan, which is ruled by an authoritarian regime. The government, in Baku, receives weapons and expressions of solidarity from Turkey. Russia is the protective power for Armenia's government, in Yerevan. Observers warn that the regional powers could actively intervene in the conflict.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
Holding out in shelters
Regional authorities estimate that half of the residents, or 75,000 people, could flee the fighting. Residents who remain continue to hold out in basements and shelters.
Image: Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS/imago images
The coronavirus in a conflict zone
Life in shelters has become routine for many Stepanakert residents. The rooms are crowded and poorly ventilated. The people are safe from the bomb attacks, but doctors warn of a rapid spread of the coronavirus. There are no officials figures, but some doctors have estimated that about half of the shelters' residents test positive on a daily basis.
Image: Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure/Reuters
Classrooms as emergency shelters
People fled the fighting in Azerbaijan, too, including from the town of Terter, which is right on the front. Some found refuge in neighboring Barda, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh, where schools have been used as emergency shelters since the end of September. But they are not safe either.
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
The front approaches
Several buildings were destroyed and cars burned out during an air raid on Barda a few days ago. Azerbaijani authorities reported at least 21 dead and dozens injured. The Armenian government denied the attack, but Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, pledged "retaliation on the battlefield" and "revenge."
Image: Julia Hahn/DW
No foreseeable peace
The fighting continues. The government of Azerbaijan has demanded the complete withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has officially asked Russia for help. The Foreign Ministry has pledged Russia's "necessary assistance" should the fighting shift to Armenian territory.
