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Protesters in the government building in Yerevan
Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov / imago images / ITAR-TASS
Riots in Yerevan: After a new agreement with Azerbaijan to end all fighting over the conflict region Nagorno-Karabakh, riots broke out in Armenia.
Protesters occupied the government building in the capital on Tuesday night.
This could be seen on videos on social networks that had previously been broadcast in excerpts on Armenian television.
Protesters smashed furniture, doors and windows.
Some have penetrated into the office of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Several hundred people stayed in front of the seat of government.
They berated the prime minister as a traitor.
The police initially did not intervene.
There were reports that demonstrators were trying to visit the Pashinyan residence.
The situation in Armenia's capital was initially confusing.
Pashinyan had previously reached an agreement with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on an end to the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, mediated by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
"The text is painful for me personally and for our people," wrote Pashinyan on Facebook.
But after careful consideration and analysis of the situation, he decided to sign it, wrote Pashinyan.
Observers saw this as a surrender.
The fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on since the end of September.
The conflict itself has been around for decades.
Azerbaijan lost control of the mountainous area with around 145,000 inhabitants in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union around 30 years ago.
A fragile ceasefire has existed since 1994.
Azerbaijan invokes international law in the new war and is always looking for the support of its "brother state" Turkey.
Armenia, in turn, relies on Russia as a protective power.
Russian peacekeepers flown into conflict region
According to the new agreement, Russian peacekeeping forces have already started their operations.
The first four Ilyushin Il-76 planes flew with soldiers and armored vehicles to Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday night, the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow said to the Interfax agency.
The official start of the mission was agreed to be 7 a.m. local time (4 a.m. CET).
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as / dpa