Marut Vanyan

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Marut Vanyan is a freelance journalist based in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. He has worked in journalism since 2015.

A child washing their hands at a water station in Stepanakert. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media

Armenia

‘Bread is all we have’: Nagorno-Karabakh’s population faces threat of starvation

by Marut Vanyan

•6 min read

With Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor continuing, food and medical supplies in Nagorno-Karabakh are running out. The dwindling supplies have led some to warn that the region is entering the worst phase so far of the nine-month blockade. Larisa, 69, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital of Stepanakert following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, after Azerbaijan took control of Togh, her village in Hadrut region. ‘I have seen a lot of suffering’, Larisa tells OC Media. ‘My 1

A house in the village of Mets Shen. Photo: Samvel Tavadyan.

Armenia

The villages of the Lachin Corridor face ‘double blockade’

by Marut Vanyan

•4 min read

With ‘eco-activists’ blocking one side and an Azerbaijani checkpoint on the other, four Armenian villages in the Lachin Corridor have found themselves cut off from all directions. ‘The Red Cross vehicles are seen passing, the Russians are seen passing, but no one stops here’, says Samvel Tavadyan, a teacher in the village of Mets Shen. Mets Shen lies on the new route of the Lachin Corridor. The road, the only one in and out of the region, was supposed to be controlled by the Russian peaceke

The town of Chartar. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Plastic flowers at a funeral: small-town life under blockade

by Marut Vanyan

•6 min read

The small town of Chartar in the Martuni region of Nagorno-Karabakh is facing the second month of the region’s blockade. With gas disruptions leading to fuel shortages, and limited transport in and out of the town, some local residents feel doubly cut off. The main bus station in Stepanakert has been quieter than usual for the past month with the buses to and from Yerevan no longer running. Public transport within Nagorno-Karabakh is also experiencing disruptions, due to a shortage of fuel.

Protest in Stepanakert on 25 December. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh rallies amid blockade

by Marut Vanyan

•6 min read

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Stepanakert on Sunday to demand that the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world be reopened. The Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijani ‘eco-activists’ since 12 December. The protest came amidst news of mounting food and medical shortages, and promises from Russian peacekeepers that the situation would be resolved on 26 December. At the time of publication, the road remains closed. In his speech at the rally, the State Ministe

Renaissance Square in Stepanakert. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh under siege

by Marut Vanyan

•6 min read

On 12 December, Azerbaijani civilians claiming to be ‘eco-activists’ descended on the Lachin Corridor, placing Nagorno-Karabakh under de facto blockade. With their lifeline to Armenia and the world cut off, some in the region fear a looming humanitarian crisis. ‘If it continues like this, we won’t be able to last long’, says Karen Melkumyan, the director of the Arevik Medical Centre. ‘Autumn-winter is the season of acute respiratory diseases and the hospital is overloaded.’ The Arevik Centre

Thousands of people gathered in Stepanakert on 30 October. Photo: Marut Vanyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Thousands rally in Nagorno-Karabakh over fears for region’s future

by Marut Vanyan

•6 min read

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday to express concern over the fate of the region and its ethnic Armenian population. According to the local authorities, more than 40,000 people attended Sunday’s rally in Stepanakert — a significant proportion of the region’s population, officially around 120,000. The demonstration coincided with an extraordinary session of the parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was broadcast live on the city’s Renaissance Sq

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