Khodaferin bridge over the Araxes river, view from Iran. Wikimedia

A newly agreed “humanitarian cease-fire” came into effect from midnight, October 18 meant a suspension in missile attacks on Stepanakert and Ganja, but shelling continued at the frontlines and fighting continued with Azerbaijani forces advancing in the largely unpopulated south of Karabakh, along the Iranian border, reaching the area of Khudaferin bridge.

The “cease-fire” was preceded by heavy shelling of Stepanakert and Ganja, overnight from October 16-17. In the evening of October 18, the air defense of Stepanakert shot down another drone.

On October 16, a member of Russian parliament Vitaly Milonov from the ruling United Russia party visited Stepanakert, and on October 18, members of the German Bundestag did as well.