Stepanakert Airport has become the focal point of a mass exodus, as thousands of residents from the Republic of Artsakh gather there in what witnesses describe as a total civilian evacuation. The airport, which has not operated as a civilian facility for years, now hosts Russian peacekeepers, and it is their presence that has drawn the desperate population seeking protection and a route out of the territory. Women and children constitute a significant portion of the crowd, indicating that this is not a military retreat but a forced displacement of an entire civilian population.
These individuals are not political figures but residents who previously had homes and lives in the region, now left with only a road out and no possessions. The situation represents the final chapter of a conflict that began in the early 1990s when Artsakh declared independence from Azerbaijan.
A bloody war ensued, lasting several years, and the region became a frozen conflict zone claimed by both nations. Armenia supported Artsakh, while Azerbaijan refused to recognize its existence. For three decades, this tension simmered, occasionally erupting into violence. The 2020 war marked a significant escalation, with Armenia losing territory and the balance of power shifting.
In 2023, Azerbaijan launched a swift offensive that pushed the region to collapse, completing the military takeover of all remaining territory that constituted the Republic of Artsakh, also officially known as the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly, according to observers.
The international community, including the United States, has a history of providing aid in such crises, but calls for a peaceful resolution have grown louder over the years without preventing the current deterioration. Negotiations and ceasefires have failed, with the 2020 war resetting the terms and the latest offensive sealing them. The gathering at Stepanakert Airport represents the practical result of a conflict that has run its course, with no diplomatic breakthrough anticipated.
The population is disappearing from its homeland, and the Republic of Artsakh now exists in name only. The peacekeepers remain present, the world watches, and the last of a population is leaving, marking the end of a three-decade presence in the territory.
