Azerbaijani blockade of Karabakh drags on

A blockade by Azerbaijanis of the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh has left supermarkets and pharmacies in the territory's capital Stepanakert with bare shelves, further isolating the beleaguered majority-Armenian population.

"People are dying psychologically and morally," says Erna Gasparian, who works in human resources.

"We have no electricity and sometimes the gas is turned off. The children have no food or fruit."

About 120,000 people live in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region recognised by the international community as part of Azerbaijan that broke from Baku after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Protesters claiming to be environmental activists opposed to illegal mining have occupied the Lachin corridor, a 32-kilometre mountain road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, since December 12.

Yerevan sees the protest as an attempt by its neighbour Azerbaijan, which claims the enclave, to destabilise Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought in the early 1990s for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a conflict that left 30,000 dead and ended in an Armenian victory.

Baku took its revenge in a second war fought in 2021, which claimed the lives of 6,500 people, retaking swathes of territory.

Russian peacekeepers were deployed there after the 2021 conflict.

But Armenia accused Russian soldiers of failing to prevent the throttling of the Lachin corridor because it says Moscow is distracted by its offensive in Ukraine.