Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 13.05.21:

• Azerbaijanis have reportedly advanced their position in Vardenis town in Armenia's Gegharkunik province by 3 km. It took place amid escalations over the Armenia-Azerbaijani border in Syunik Province.

The reports were not officially denied or confirmed. The governor of Gegharkunik province Gnel Sanosyan told NEWS.am that there was no incident near Vardenis. According to him, Azerbaijanis who came were there only after the snowmelt to specify the boundaries.

"There is absolutely no tension," he later told reporters.

Meanwhile, according to the calculation of the administrative head of Verin Shorzha village in Gegharkunik province, the Azerbaijani side advanced 400 to 500 meters. According to him, the distance between the Armenian Armed Forces and the opponent is a little more than 1 km. 

• The situation in Syunik province near the Armenia-Azerbaijan border also remains tense.

The Sev Lake is still under the control of the Azerbaijanis as of noon today, the talks that have been going on since yesterday have not yielded results yet.

According to Armenian acting PM Nikol Pashinyan, there are a large number of Azerbaijani soldiers from Azerbaijan there, but the situation has not reached a military escalation.

The Azerbaijanis have been trying to prove with the map they brought with them since yesterday that the 3 km area they crossed is inside the borders of Azerbaijan.

The Office of the Human Rights Defender has issued a statement that Azerbaijani soldiers threatened a shepherd from Verishen with a weapon.

The ombudsman's office also noted that the areas adjacent to the lake are of irreplaceable importance for the locals, as they are used as pastures, from which their drinking and irrigation water is generated.

Yesterday, acting FM Ara Aivazian had phone talks with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and briefed him on the situation.

US Congressman Adam Schiff also addressed the administration of US President Joe Biden in this regard.

“I am deeply concerned by recent reports that Azerbaijani troops have reportedly crossed into Armenian territory. If true, this is yet another dangerous and provocative action that could lead to further loss of life. It is past time for the United States to recognize that our policies have emboldened Azeri President Ilham Aliyev to escalate militarily, risking another war,” Schiff wrote on Facebook.

• Armenia is still facing the harsh and more deadly COVID-19 third wave.

As of Thursday morning, 267 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 220,217 in the country.

Also, 19 more deaths from COVID-19 were reported, bringing the total number to 4,291.

The total number of people recovered so far is 206,752.

At Thursday’s government meeting, the interim government of Armenia lifted the requirement not to perform autopsies in Armenia on persons who have died from COVID-19.

As a result of the autopsies carried out in Armenia during the last year, it became clear that getting infected with COVID-19 while autopsying a person who died of it can be prevented with the use of personal protection means being used during the autopsy, and the implementation of appropriate sanitary-epidemiological measures.