The Ombudsman of Artsakh Republic Artak Beglaryan wrote on his Facebook page:

“As a result of the search and exchange of the bodies of the missing and killed, which started on 13 November, the bodies of about 350 Armenian servicemen have already been found or exchanged. The works started in the Shushi sector, expanding in recent days to Martuni, Karmir Shuka and Mataghis. Negotiations are also underway on exchanges and search operations in other areas.

A few days ago, a wounded police officer was found near Shushi, who had been hiding in the forest for more than six days and escaped as a result of a search operation. Unfortunately, no other living servicemen have been found so far.

Preliminary examination of a number of bodies revealed cases of killing of the wounded and mutilation of the bodies of the dead. The bodies of three civilians were found in Shushi, who were brutally killed by the Azerbaijani armed forces.

Identified bodies are passed on to relatives, and when it is not objectively possible to find out on the spot, it is done on the basis of DNA analysis results.

The search and exchange of bodies of the missing and killed is carried out by the Russian Peacekeeping Mission, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the State Emergency Situations Service of the Artsakh Republic with the support of the Ministries of Defense. And the staff of the Human Rights Defender of the Artsakh Republic assists in the collection and processing of data, as it records human rights violations within the framework of the fact-finding mission.

It is very possible that all state and international structures will work as efficiently and operatively as possible to save the lives of the missing and prisoners of war, to deliver the bodies of our fallen heroes to their relatives. I also try to take all possible steps to support that goal within my authority and beyond. I would like to mention that fact-finding work is being carried out in our staff regarding the captured servicemen and civilians, regularly passing information to the Red Cross and state authorized bodies.

I once again express my deep condolences, pride and gratitude to the relatives of all the victims. Your children, brothers and fathers have died for all of us, and we all owe a lifetime to them, to you and to all the defenders of the Homeland.”