The Lachin Corridor Blockade: December 2022–September 2023

December 12, 2022: The beginning of the blockade

On December 12, 2022, groups of Azerbaijani demonstrators identifying themselves as environmental activists began blocking the Lachin Corridor.

The demonstrators said they were protesting allegedly unlawful mining activities and environmental damage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian authorities disputed the environmental explanation and accused Azerbaijan of organizing a blockade to pressure and isolate the Armenian population.

The road obstruction rapidly developed into a severe humanitarian crisis.

The Lachin Corridor was not an ordinary highway. It was the principal transportation link connecting the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world.

Its closure disrupted commercial deliveries, medical transfers, family travel, humanitarian assistance, and the transportation of essential supplies.

Before the blockade, Nagorno-Karabakh depended heavily on imports from Armenia for food, medicine, fuel, and consumer goods.

As the restrictions continued, supplies declined.

The deterioration of civilian life

Throughout the winter and spring of 2023, residents experienced increasingly difficult living conditions.

Food shortages affected shops, restaurants, hospitals, schools, and households. Products previously available through regular imports became scarce or disappeared.

Bread, flour, cooking oil, sugar, dairy products, meat, infant formula, and basic medical supplies became difficult to obtain.

Residents waited in long lines for limited supplies. Families reduced meals and prioritized children, elderly relatives, and people with medical conditions.

The scarcity of fuel created additional problems.

Public transportation became unreliable, private vehicles were often unusable, and agricultural operations faced serious disruption.

Farmers encountered difficulties obtaining fuel, equipment, animal feed, and supplies necessary for production.

Hospitals faced shortages of medications and medical equipment. Patients requiring specialized treatment outside the territory experienced obstacles to evacuation.

Pregnant women, infants, elderly residents, and people with chronic illnesses were particularly vulnerable.

The humanitarian crisis was intensified by interruptions to gas and electricity supplies.

These disruptions affected heating, food preparation, refrigeration, medical services, and ordinary household life.

Human Rights Watch documented acute shortages of essential supplies and severe restrictions on civilian movement during the blockade.

The International Court of Justice intervenes

On February 22, 2023, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to take measures within its power to ensure unimpeded movement of people, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

The order was issued in proceedings brought by Armenia under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The order was legally significant because it recognized an urgent need to protect rights potentially affected by the restrictions.

It did not determine Nagorno-Karabakh's sovereignty or decide the underlying dispute on its merits.

Despite the order, the humanitarian crisis continued.

April 23, 2023: Azerbaijan establishes a checkpoint

On April 23, 2023, Azerbaijan installed a border checkpoint on the Lachin road near the Armenian border.

Azerbaijan asserted that the checkpoint was necessary to prevent unauthorized movement of military personnel, weapons, and mines.

Armenian authorities argued that the checkpoint violated the 2020 ceasefire arrangement and further restricted movement.

The establishment of the checkpoint marked an important change: Azerbaijani state authorities now directly controlled passage through the corridor.

Restrictions subsequently intensified.

By the summer of 2023, even humanitarian deliveries had become severely constrained.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the few organizations able to operate across the dividing lines, repeatedly warned about the humanitarian situation and sought access for medical evacuations and essential relief.

The August 2023 humanitarian emergency

By August, the crisis had become increasingly severe.

Residents reported malnutrition, exhaustion, shortages of infant supplies, and an inability to obtain adequate medical treatment.

Local authorities introduced rationing measures.

The blockade also had psychological consequences. Families lived under constant uncertainty about whether they could obtain food, whether medical treatment would be available, and whether renewed fighting would occur.

International organizations warned that the restrictions endangered civilian lives.

The United States, European Union, United Nations representatives, and numerous humanitarian organizations called for restored humanitarian access.

Azerbaijan proposed alternative supply routes, including a road through Aghdam. Armenian representatives feared that replacing the Lachin connection with routes controlled by Azerbaijan would further undermine their security and autonomy.

Disagreements over routes, control, inspections, and humanitarian access continued into September.

The prolonged blockade left the population exceptionally vulnerable when military operations resumed.