On Thursday, 488 displaced persons were transported from Armenia’s capital Yerevan to the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] capital Stepanakert by buses, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The traveling of the buses was escorted by patrols of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the military police," the respective statement also said.

It was also noted that the Russian peacekeepers are monitoring the situation around the clock, monitoring—from 23 observation posts—the maintenance of the ceasefire, ensuring the civilians’ safe return to their homes, providing humanitarian assistance, and restoring civilian infrastructures.

So far, more than 43,000 Armenia refugees have returned to their permanent residences in Nagorno-Karabakh.

To note, on November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities— which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.