BBC Russian Service
Ahead of the transfer of Lachin District, a predominantly-Azerbaijani and Kurdish populated region before its occupation by the Armenian Armed Forces in 1992, which resulted in its population fleeing the region, and the Armenian forces burning Lachin, the district's administrative center, which was re-settled by ethnic Armenian migrants from Armenia, to Azerbaijan, some ethnic Armenians fled from the city of Lachin, despite the Russian supervision over the land corridor passing thorough the city, which links Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. The Russian peacekeepers also set up a post in a town previously called Zabukh by the local Azerbaijanis before it was destroyed in 1992, but later on the ruins there was built a village inhabited by Lebanese-Armenians. From 27 November, citing the city's self-proclaimed mayor, Narek Aleksanyan, who called on the ethnic Armenian population to flee the region, the Armenian media alleged that "the agreement has been amended," adding that Lachin, Sus, and Zabukh would not be handed over to Azerbaijan. These claims were refuted by the chairman of the Azerbaijan-based Center for Social Research, MP Zahid Oruj. According to "BBC Russian Service" correspondent, Yuri Vekdik, despite Aleksanyan's calls, the vast majority of Armenian settlers in Lachin, as well as the Lebanese-Armenians in Zabux, had fled the region. On 1 December, the Azerbaijani forces, with tanks and a column of trucks, entered the district, and the Azerbaijani MoD released footage from the city of Lachin. The Azerbaijani authorities stated that the district had suffered "great damage over the years", while it was administrated by the Republic of Artsakh as its Kashatagh Province.