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Families of servicemen from Armenia’s Shirak Province who have been taken prisoner by the Azerbaijani forces in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in recent days, have today blocked Yerevan-Gyumri highway.

Dozens of Armenian soldiers have been captured near the villages of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher in the Hadrut region one month after the war.

"The authorities don’t care about our calls. We are not here to protest against anyone, we just demand the return of our children, our captives.” one of the soldiers’ relatives said.

Another protester said that there is still no news from the son of his fellow citizen who joined the army two months ago.

"There has been no news from Kajo's son for two months, he is not among the missing, nor is he on the list of the dead. We all have suffered a lot," he said.

One of the Shirak residents said that he lost contact with his soldier son three months ago.

"That's why we have closed the road so that they find the children and bring them to us. Find our children and return them to us!” he said angrily.

Another man reiterated that the protest is not for or against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, but for the return of their children from captivity. “What are you doing? Why are you upsetting people? Our children are missing, they have been taken prisoner, we demand answers," he said.