Nagorno-Karabakh: Stepanakert residents return home after armistice agreement

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Russian peacekeepers and military police escorted 24 buses carrying ethnic Armenians back to their hometown of Stepanakert in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, a week after the Moscow-brokered truce agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended fighting in the region.

The people thanked the Russian peacekeepers for making the return possible.

"How could we get here without them [peacekeepers]? We wouldn't have come here at all. Do you think we are able to be here without them? Only with them, we can feel a bit safe," one returnee said.

Another displaced person said she was concerned about the future in the city.

"Everything is destroyed, there is no work at the moment, we have to rebuild… after that maybe."

According to Russia's Defence Ministry, from 14 to 17 November over 1,700 displaced people returned to Stepanakert.

*SOUNDBITES*

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "This is our land, here is our home, we were born here, lived here, only here, nowhere else."
Journalist (Russian): "And do you think everyone will come back?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Of course, they will return, for sure."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "We want to leave peacefully in our city, that is all."
Journalist (Russian): "and will you be able to do it?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Of course, I think, we will manage it."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "We have come to our city."
Journalist: "Are you happy?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Yes, I am happy."
Journalist (Russian): "Please, tell me, are you afraid?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident (Russian): "I am not afraid because I am here, we are not afraid."
Journalist: "Don’t you think that hostilities will resume?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "No, never."
Journalist: "And will all people return? What do you think?" *UPSOUND
Stepanakert resident: "Yes, everyone, those who lost their homes, I do not know, where they will go."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "The feelings are ambiguous. We will see."
Journalist (Russian): "Aren’t you afraid?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "We are… Things that we saw, after that, we are afraid. To tell the truth."SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "I am not sure [that they will come back]. Youth will perhaps decide in a different way than we did when we were young."
Journalist (Russian): "And do you think life will be as it was?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Well, in our childhood we lived with the Russian army, our brave Soviet army… if there is an opportunity [to return to peaceful time], God bless, but it will take long for things to get better."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "We left at 8 a.m. [local time] and got here only now. Everything was ok, quiet."
Journalist (Russian): "And how do you feel now? How do you see the future?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "I do not know, to tell the truth, I don’t know. I really want to believe that the peacekeepers will help us to get back on track, but that seems unlikely, I do not know."
Journalist: "But are you happy that they [peacekeepers] are here?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident (Russian): "Of course, and how could we get here without them? We wouldn’t have come here at all. Do you think we are able to be here without them? Only with them, we can feel a bit safe."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "We do not know, we believe in God."
Journalist (Russian): "And you see Russian peacekeepers here, are you happy?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Of course, we are. They are our friends, too. I hope everything will be fine."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "Very, very bad. The first time a Grad shell fell, I can’t even tell you …"
Journalist (Russian): "Are you happy to return?"
Stepanakert resident: "Of course, I am."
Journalist: "How do you see the future now?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "I do not know, I think, in a bad way."
Journalist: "Bad, how is it?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "How to say… everything is destroyed, there is no work at the moment, we have to rebuild… after that maybe."
Journalist: "Do you think people will come back? Will everyone come back?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Not everyone wants."

SOT, Stepanakert resident (Russian): "For sure, everyone is waiting… Tomorrow, maybe, even more people will come back than today."
Journalist (Russian): "And will there be peace?" *UPSOUND*
Stepanakert resident: "Of course, there will."

Video ID: 20201118-005

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