539 families evacuated from border settlements of Armenia’s Vardenis as a result of latest Azeri attacks

539 families (2121 people) have been evacuated from the border settlements of Vardenis community of Gegharkunik province as a result of the latest aggression of Azerbaijan against Armenia, Governor of Gegharkunik Karen Sargsyan told Armenpress.

He said that most of these families have sheltered in different settlements of Gegharkunik. Some of these peoples settled in Yerevan or other provinces, mainly in the homes of their relatives.

According to the preliminary data, 73 apartments have been damaged from the Azerbaijani attacks. 7 of these houses located in the village of Sotk are unfit for further living. The buildings of the school and the medical center in Sotk, as well as infrastructures in Kut, Azat and Tretuk have also been damaged.

Currently, need assessment is being done in order to return the evacuated people to their permanent places of residence. This work will end soon. “Assistance, psychological support is provided to the evacuated people both with public support or by NGOs, international organizations. Steps are being taken to return them to their permanent places of residence. And in this respect the restoration of damaged houses and infrastructures is a priority, and we need some measures and time for that to be done. The government of Armenia has expressed its readiness to provide respective measures. After the needs assessment the houses that have been damaged relatively less will be renovated first. But as for the houses which are unfit for further living, will be built from zero, but it will already require some time especially when unfavorable months for construction works are coming. All evacuated families are under our spotlight. As of today, the number of evacuated families who have returned back to their places of residence is 442 (712 people)”, he stated.