Arriving Russian Peacekeepers Find Armenians Leaving Nagorno-Karabakh

A column of armored vehicles from Russia’s peacekeeping mission has entered Kalbajar, one of three districts from which Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh are withdrawing under a timetable agreed in a Moscow-brokered cease-fire with Baku. The district is to be handed over to Azerbaijan by November 15. Russian forces first set up positions in an area adjacent to Dadivank, a ninth-century monastery. Armenians have been bidding a somber farewell to the monastery as they leave the region, with some even burning their houses behind them. One local priest, Father Hovhannes, says he will not leave. Instead, he arranged for two khachkars — or cross stones — believed to be 800 years old to be relocated to Armenia. The ornate stones have never been moved. Hovhannes says he hopes they will return to the monastery at some point in the future-RFE/RL

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