“2-3 seconds fired about 10 times”: The village head of Khnapat comments on the events of April 5

On April 5, following gunfire from the Azerbaijani side towards the village of Khnapat in the Askeran region of Artsakh, villagers resumed agricultural work the next day under the supervision of Russian peacekeepers. This was reported to 24News by Khnapat village head Samvel Sharmanyan, who commented on the situation in the village in the days following the incident. Sharmanyan stated that they worked without the presence of peacekeepers on April 5, but the following day they coordinated with them and resumed work in their presence.

“The Azerbaijanis fired about 10 times for 2-3 seconds, but no one was harmed,” he added.

According to the village head, Azerbaijani positions are located about 200 meters away from arable lands. “We also have 160 hectares of land that are very close to the positions, and we are unable to cultivate,” he noted.

The main crops in the village are pomegranate and orange (karalyok), and last year’s harvest was satisfactory. With regards to the lifestyle of the population under the conditions of the closure of the Berdzor corridor, Sharmanyan remarked, “How should we live? People are thinking day and night about how to provide fruits for their children.”

On April 5, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Artsakh reported that on the same day, the Azerbaijani armed forces once again violated the ceasefire regime, targeting 48-year-old resident of Khnapat community Robert Beglaryan. “He was carrying out agricultural work with his ‘Belarus-82’ tractor around 4:00 PM in the administrative territory of Khnapat village when he came under fire from Azerbaijani servicemen. Various firearms from combat positions were fired in the direction of the Artsakh civilian, which resulted in the suspension of agricultural activities,” it noted.