Fake statement of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh posted on Telegram

A Telegram channel, which doesn't have the status of an official channel of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, has published a statement that the peacekeeping contingent, stationed in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, uses toponyms from maps of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Report informs.

Despite this, a number of media outlets, including Sputnik Armenia, mentioned this post as a response of the Russian peacekeepers to the official statement of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry regarding the names of settlements on Azerbaijani territory.

A source in the Russian Ministry of Defense told NEWS.ru that no information was available regarding the channel, which posted on behalf of Russian peacekeeping contingent, adding that it has nothing to do with the ministry. The source pointed out that only the main channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense is official one. The Russian peacekeeping contingent's page also shows the main official channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Telegram.

The post read that the Russian Armed Forces and the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh use toponyms established by the topographic maps of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

"The criticism from Baku regarding the name of the settlement Magavuz is surprising, since earlier, and more than once, other non-Azerbaijani toponyms were used in the bulletins of the Russian Defense Ministry," the peacekeepers channel wrote.

A source in the Russian defence ministry pointed out that links to all official channels of the Russian Defense Ministry are posted on the website of the department.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry earlier also expressed indignation at the use of the name of the settlement Magavuz in the bulletins of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The department emphasized that these toponyms do not correspond to official geographical names in Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly stressed that the territorial unit "Nagorno-Karabakh" does not exist. There is the Karabakh economic zone, created on the basis of the decree of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.