Military specialists are currently working on the issue of militants in the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] region. This was stated at a briefing Friday by Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in response to a reporter's question about militants from Syria.

According to the reporters, the militants are sent to the Karabakh territories that are or passing under the control of Azerbaijan under the guise of settlers from Syria, and among them there are even members of the Turkish nationalist Gray Wolves organization.

"This work does not assume public comment on every step, but I can assure you that it is being carried out. It is, of course, held with the parties to the conflict, and with experts who either have the data or the opportunity to participate in resolving this issue. Although it is a very complicated formulation, I believe it bespeaks the main thing that this work is being done, and this topic is under the constant oversight of our military," Zakharova explained.

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. 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.