Artsakh MFA stated the imminent environmental disaster provoked by Azerbaijan. It says:

"The siege of the Republic of Artsakh has been going on for almost five months, accompanied by an illegal transport and energy blockade, and is one of the main tools of the ethnic cleansing policy systematically and consistently implemented by Azerbaijan at the state level.

Within the framework of this policy, the Azerbaijani side is trying not only to create unbearable socio-economic conditions but also to artificially provoke an environmental disaster and undermine the foundations of the stable development of Artsakh. In particular, the Azerbaijani side is preventing the elimination of the accident of the only high-voltage power line entering Artsakh from Armenia in the Aghavno-Berdzor section.

To deepen the energy crisis, the Azerbaijani side also regularly disrupted the work of the gas pipeline from Armenia to Artsakh. It has been two months since the last shutdown. As a result, the hydroelectric plant on the Sarsang reservoir became the only possibility to alleviate the energy crisis. Still, the continuous policy of siege and energy blockade of the Azerbaijani authorities led to the fact that during the cold winter, an unprecedented amount of water was released from the reservoir to generate the necessary electricity for the besieged population of Artsakh.

The authorities of Artsakh have repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community to the fact that Azerbaijan's continued deliberate blocking of natural gas and electricity supplies from Armenia to Artsakh will lead to disastrous consequences, particularly for the Sarsang reservoir, which is the most significant and most vital source of fresh water in Artsakh.

The drying up of the Sarsang reservoir will cause severe environmental consequences for the entire region's ecosystem. The population of Artsakh, as well as some areas of Azerbaijan, will be deprived of water resources necessary for everyday life. By creating preconditions for draining the Sarsang and provoking an environmental disaster, the Azerbaijani authorities are pursuing several goals simultaneously, including creating unbearable living conditions in Artsakh and preparing the ground for accusations of unscrupulous use of water resources as a pretext for new military provocations.

We emphasize again that the humanitarian situation in the Republic of Artsakh and the general military-political case in the region are worsening due to Azerbaijan's continuous illegal and aggressive actions.

In the created hazardous situation, we consider it very necessary to ensure the steady implementation of the provisions of the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, as well as the immediate and decisive intervention of the international community and, first of all, the UN Security Council, to prevent the continuation of massive and regular violations of human rights in Artsakh and to stop the criminal plans and genocidal intentions of Azerbaijan".