Former 'leader' of Nagorno-Karabakh detained by Azerbaijan

The Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan have arrested the former "president" of Nagorno-Karabakh, pro-Kremlin separatist Arayik Harutyunyan, reports the press service of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office.

Harutyunyan was detained on Wednesday in de-occupied Khankendi.

A criminal case has been opened against the former leader of separatists in the region. He is suspected of waging an aggressive war and terrorism.

According to the version of the Azerbaijani law enforcement officers, Harutyunyan participated in an aggressive war, and was also engaged in recruiting, training and financing mercenaries involved in hostilities against the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.

The Prosecutor General's Office added that Harutyunyan was arrested in absentia back in October 2020 and declared internationally wanted.

Arayik Harutyunyan himself is also on Ukraine's Myrotvorets (Peacemaker) list. He is an outspoken pro-Russian politician who in 2014 supported the occupation of Donbas and financed the activities of the Russian occupation forces.

In 2020, he illegally entered the temporarily occupied Crimea.

On February 22, 2022, Harutyunyan supported the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the "independence" of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk "people's republics".

On September 27, 2023, Azerbaijani border guards arrested the former "state minister" of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan.

On September 28, the so-called "head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" Samvel Shakhramanyan signed a decree on the dissolution of the republic by the end of this year.

On September 29, the Azerbaijani military detained Levon Mnatsakanyan, the so-called "commander" of the Nagorno-Karabakh army.