Eleven Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians transferred to Armenia, authorities in Yerevan say
Armenian authorities announced on Friday that 11 people were transferred to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian Labour and Social Affairs Minister Arsen Torosyan shared the news in a Facebook post, without revealing their names.
Torosyan noted that 10 of the individuals were ethnic Armenians, while the 11th was an ethnic Russian holding Armenian citizenship. He added that the transfer was carried out after all of the individuals submitted applications to both Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities.
It remains unclear how they contacted the Armenian side.
The Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA additionally reported that according to their sources, the transfer ‘was facilitated according to their written requests and wishes’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
‘All individuals have undergone medical examinations, and one has been hospitalised at the Goris Medical Centre for further tests’, Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan wrote in a Facebook post later on Friday.
According to Avanesyan, the health condition of the remaining 10 was ‘satisfactory’.
Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan have clarified the number of Armenians left in the region after the exodus of virtually the entire Armenian population of the region in 2023, following the final Azerbaijani attack on the region.
Sergei Ogoltsov, an English teacher and writer who spent eight months in Stepanakert following the exodus, told CivilNet in 2025 that there were ‘14 Armenians’ who remained in the region.
If this number is accurate, it means there could be as few as three Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
In December 2025, 58-year-old Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian Karen Avanesyan, who reportedly has mental health issues, was sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to 16 years in prison on charges of ‘terrorism’.
Prior to that, two ethnic Armenians testified during the trial of the region’s former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan in March 2025. The two individuals had previously appeared in Azerbaijani propaganda videos.
Another Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian, Vera Aghasyan, passed away in the region on 20 October 2024.
The transfer of the 11 individuals marked the first instance in which Armenians from the region were transferred directly to Armenia without the involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which had previously facilitated such movements before they were forced out from Azerbaijan in September 2025.
The transfer also came roughly a week after Azerbaijan handed over four Armenian prisoners it had in its custody to Armenia. There are still 19 Armenians, including some of the former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, who remain behind bars in Azerbaijan.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
