Azerbaijani forces on Wednesday intensified their attacks on the Khramort village in Artsakh’s Askeran region, extending their aggression into the neighboring Nakhichevanik village in the same region, Artsakh Prosecutor-General’s office reported.

Also coming under heavy shelling were the Khnushinak and Karmir Shuka villages in the Martuni region. The latest attacks interrupted the daily routine of residents, and obstructed their free movement, the prosecutor’s office said.

“Taking into consideration the situation, law enforcement agencies are taking all steps to register criminal actions of the Azerbaijani side and their consequences,” the statement said.

Azerbaijani forces also broadcast threatening messages from a military base near the Khramort village, vowing to use force if residents did not leave the area on their own.

The Askeran region is adjacent to Aghdam, an area that was surrendered to Azerbaijan following the 2020 war.,

Between 2 to 2:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Azerbaijani forces fired 60 millimeter mortars at the
Khnushinak village in Artsakh’s Martuni region.

No casualties were reported.

At around 1:10 p.m.. local times on Wednesday, Azerbaijani forces opened fire using various caliber weapons at Armenian military positions deployed in the western section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Armenia’s Defense Ministry said.

Khramort residents told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service about several explosions near their homes.

“I worked in our garden with my children,” said Hasmik Andryan, a local woman. “The blast was very strong. They said it was a mortar. We got very scared.”

“Every time we go to bed we fear that they will attack, strike the village overnight,” she said. “Every time we wake up in the morning we thank God for having slept safely and for the fact that nothing happened, that my kids are with me.”

Like many other people in Khramort, Andryan wants a permanent Russian military presence in or around the village. “If there are Russian posts here we will sleep normally,” she said.