The situation in the zone of temporary responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Azerbaijan's Karabakh has sharply escalated in recent days. On March 8 and 9, the illegal Armenian "Artsakh" separatist armed formations, which are currently operating in Azerbaijani territory under the cover of Russian peacekeepers, shelled positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.  The Azerbaijani military was forced to return fire and suppressed the separatists' firing points.

The current aggravation of the situation in Karabakh has its own explanation. All indications are that Armenian "Artsakh" terrorists and separatists consciously and deliberately carried out a number of provocations and sabotage against Azerbaijani forces under the cover of Russian peacekeepers in order to try to ignite a "big war" and urgently draw Russia into it.

The fact is that "the clock is ticking" and Russian peacekeepers have, at best, three and a half years to stay in Karabakh. The unconquered separatists today, as they once did, need to show that they remain "the only allies" of Russia. For Russia to provide them with "protection" from legal and just retribution for the crimes they committed on Azerbaijani soil.

Meanwhile, Russia's problems have worsened sharply since the start of its aggression against Ukraine. And it is not just because of the murderous and ruinous sanctions on Russia's economy. Russia simply no longer has enough troops for military operations in Ukraine, where after the first days of defeat the Ukrainian army is "recovering" and its resistance is growing by leaps and bounds.

With high probability it can be said that the Russian military, deployed as peacekeepers in Karabakh, will soon move "to the Ukrainian front", where the Russian army is already short of forces and reserves, as all plans for a quick encirclement and capture of Kiev are practically foiled by Ukraine. At the same time, the further the war in Ukraine goes on, the less likely it is that Russia will be able to free up any troops to send to the South Caucasus to defend the same "allied" Armenian interests.

The "Artsakh" separatists understand all this very well. And as long as Russia does not "write them off" in a critical military situation, the separatists are doing everything to ignite a new war in the South Caucasus and to attract additional forces to Karabakh, or at least to prevent Russia to redeploy the military serving as peacekeepers from Karabakh to Ukraine.

However, events are evolving rapidly and things are moving towards the point where provocations will no longer help the Armenian terrorists and separatists. The world community has already seen from the example of Ukraine what dire consequences separatism can lead to. The separatists may well face a Nuremberg-style trial.

It is also obvious that Armenian nationalists were the first to plant separatist landmines in the post soviet territory.  And they justly must not only answer for their crimes in the Azerbaijani land, but also share the responsibility for crimes against humanity in Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region,) and now in Ukraine. and now also in Ukraine.

Kavkazplus