After the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement on 10 November, the Russian government quickly deployed a peacekeeping force to Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the agreement. The Russian peacekeepers immediately went to work establishing checkpoints, carrying out demining and explosive ordnance disposal, as well as participating in searches for missing Armenian and Azerbaijani service members. The Russian government announced that the strength of the peacekeeping contingent would be around 2,000 personnel and as the accompanying excerpted articles report, personnel from Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations have also deployed to take part in the peacekeeping mission.

The articles come from Panorama, a news website in Armenia. The first article reports how “an operational detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia deployed to Stepanakert” not long after the peacekeepers deployed and that personnel from the ministry “will assess the situation on the ground and coordinate activities to provide the necessary assistance to the civilian population.” The second article from Panorama reports on some of the work the ministry is involved with, including restoring “residential buildings before the start of winter” and “working on the issue of optimizing the route for delivering additional humanitarian aid using railway transport.” The article notes that “this will save time for delivering items and speed up the process of rebuilding the infrastructure of the affected areas.” Lastly, the article mentions that “on 26 November, an additional group of Russian Emergency Situations rescuers arrived in Stepanakert.” While there is no information about exactly how many personnel from the ministry are working in Nagorno-Karabakh, they could be there for some time alongside the peacekeeping force and the impact they have will be worth watching.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations is also currently working on the issue of optimizing the route for delivering additional humanitarian aid using railway transport.

Source: “Оперативная группа МЧС России направлена в Степанакерт (An operational detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia has deployed to Stepanakert),” Panorama, 16 November 2020. https://www.panorama.am/ru/news/2020/11/16/МЧС-России-Степанакерт/2402376

On 16 November, an operational detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia deployed to Stepanakert. It will enter the interdepartmental humanitarian response center, where it will assess the situation on the ground and coordinate activities to provide the necessary assistance to the civilian population…

Source: “PМЧС России прорабатывает вопрос доставки гумпомощи в Арцах с задействованием железнодорожного транспорта (The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia is working on the issue of deliveries of humanitarian aid to Artsakh with the use of rail lines),” Panorama, 27 November 2020. https://www.panorama.am/ru/news/2020/11/27/МЧС-России-Арцах/2409984

On 27 November, within the framework of providing assistance to the Republic of Artsakh, the operational group of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations are involved in the distribution of building materials to the affected population… rescuers also continue work to restore residential buildings before the start of winter…
The Ministry of Emergency Situations is also currently working on the issue of optimizing the route for delivering additional humanitarian aid using railway transport. This will save time for delivering items and speed up the process of rebuilding the infrastructure of the affected areas.
As a reminder, on 26 November, an additional group of Russian Emergency Situations rescuers arrived in Stepanakert…

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