As of now, 120,000 people are under siege in Artsakh. Artsakh also has no air communication with the world.

Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender of the Artsakh Republic, said at a press conference held in Yerevan today, 13 December, speaking about the serious problem of the closure of the Stepanakert-Goris road by Azerbaijan.

“The international law on human rights stipulates that the conditions necessary for life protection should not be disturbed for a second, and we see that the most basic right of a person living in Artsakh has been violated for 24 hours. And this is being carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities and with the guidance and instructions of the President of Azerbaijan himself, because the theses that are circulating, allegedly environmental, etc., are completely false and there is information that those who block that way are mainly those directed by the Azerbaijani authorities, including – representatives of special services”, Artsakh HRD said.

He also mentioned what consequences this Azerbaijani criminal action can have and already has.

“For 24 hours or more, the supply of food, energy carriers, medicine and other necessary supplies has been stopped in the entire territory of Artsakh.

The Ministry of Health receives alerts that the stock of medicines in medical institutions is only for a few days and if we continue in this way, we will face a very serious problem. The same applies to the supply of food and energy carriers, we are talking about gasoline and diesel fuel,” Gegham Stepanyan said.

HRD also detailed that now around 1,100 people are left on the roads in these cold winter conditions. Among them are also 270 children who were deprived of the right to join their families, are separated from their families.