Russian deminers working in Artsakh on Nov. 23, 2020. RIA Novosti photo

An Azerbaijani officer was killed, and a Russian officer and four Artsakh rescue personnel wounded during search operations for bodies of servicemen killed in Madagis area in Karabakh’s northeast, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The same day, Russian de-miners began working on clearing mines and unexploded ordinance in Karabakh.

Over the weekend, Russian defense and foreign affairs ministers visited Yerevan and Baku for meetings with officials there. NKR’s Arayik Harutyunyan met Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday, and later that day published a Facebook message thanking Russia’s Vladimir Putin for deploying peacekeepers in Artsakh.

Harutyunyan also visited with local officials in Martuni and Askeran, where local residents now have to cope with new lines of defense, following the Armenian withdrawal from Soviet-era Aghdam district completed on November 20.

According to a list, published in Armenian media on November 23, a total of 121 Artsakh settlements have or will soon come under Azerbaijani control.