A reporter from Armenia’s Hraparak.am on Friday spoke in Yerevan with Rustam Muradov, commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone to monitor the ceasefire there.

The reporter asked Muradov why Armenian officials had announced Thursday that POWs were to be returned to Armenia from Azerbaijan on the same day, but they were not returned.

"It was a false provocation. They are misleading the population," Muradov replied.

According to him, a return of POWs was not planned Thursday, and it was a regular working visit.