“Darkness and homeless animals”: ​​residents of Stepanakert spoke about the situation in the city

According to forecasts, 10% of the population intend to stay there

More than 50,000 people have already moved to Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh. This is almost half the population of the unrecognized republic. The rest had not yet managed to get out, being stuck, among other things, in huge traffic jams in the Lachin corridor. “MK” learned from residents of the republic about what is happening now in the capital of the NKR, as well as on the Lachin corridor.

Dozens of hours in cars without moving. Minimum food and water. But even these problems don’t seem so scary when you realize that there is no home ahead, but only the unknown and uncertainty await.

“How can a person cope with his emotions who has lost not only his home and everything he had saved all his life, but also his homeland?” refugee Anna shares her emotions. “What do we feel? Disappointment, pain. It’s good that volunteers, the government, and the Red Cross are helping us. The question is where should we live now? Staying close to the border areas, in Syunik and Zangezur, is scary. We don’t believe in safety near the border and we don’t want to go through all this horror again.”

“To make an attempt to leave, right now, from Stepanakert, you need iron willpower,” Samvel, a resident of Nagorno-Karabakh, told MK, “there are huge problems with gasoline, and a sense of common sense does not allow you to take risks, because standing in a traffic jam is 40- 50 hours, suffering, moving at a speed of a meter per hour, while relieving himself in full view of all drivers, because there is no other way…

Therefore, many people still stay here, hoping that the problems with gasoline will be solved, the traffic jam will resolve, and then it will be a little easier to leave. It is unbearably difficult for people to leave their homes. But if a person, for example, is crippled and cannot walk, how will he stay here, who will look after him? Elderly and disabled people are collected separately onto buses and taken away.”

— What is the situation now in the capital of Karabakh?

— Now in Stepanakert there are many people from other settlements. They arrived with large bags and luggage and settled down wherever they had to. Someone temporarily moved into the apartments of those who had already left the city. But it’s difficult in the city now: food is running out, there are big problems with medical care, and stores are closed.

The city is plunged into darkness in the evenings, there is no gas, no water, and the houses are very cold. There will be major interruptions in communication, and tomorrow we may not be able to communicate with you anymore—everything will be cut off, and then our relatives from Armenia will no longer be able to reach us. It is very difficult with children and pets. Children ask a lot of pressing questions that we don’t have answers to, and pets… I don’t even want to say…

“This is a very sore subject,” shared volunteer from Armenia Vrezh. “Pets remain in Nagorno-Karabakh, very few reach Armenia. If they are small, then they can still be taken on the lap, but if they are large, then not, because they take up the space of one person. I’m now looking for someone who can take the dogs and cats in a truck, take them to Goris, and from there I’ll take them to Yerevan, to places where they will be kept until their old owners take them away or new ones are found.”

— How do they survive in Stepanakert?

“It’s hard for them in Stepanakert; more than twenty-five dogs were locked up in one of the shelters there. They were looking for a person who could at least open the doors and let them out so that they wouldn’t die. As a result, a woman was found who began to look after the dogs and feed the animals. This is a very painful question.

— What do you think about the people? Will anyone remain in the city?

— I think that 90% of the population will leave the city, and 10% will remain, but at their own peril and risk.

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