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The evacuation of patients from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia is currently impossible, Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said, referring to the complete closure of the Lachin Corridor, the only road in or out of Artsakh, by Azerbaijan on Thursday.

“The transfer of even seriously ill patients to Yerevan has now become impossible,” she told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Avanesyan said the vehicles transporting severely ill patients from Stepanakert to Yerevan through the Lachin Corridor were stopped and sent back by Azeri officers on Thursday. It remains unclear when it will be possible to evacuate patients to Yerevan.

"Such an escalation of the situation is recurrent, we keep in touch with local doctors in an effort to provide joint medical assistance to patients, but of course this cannot be a way out," the minister said.

She denounced Azerbaijan’s move, adding: "The obstruction of medical assistance to patients runs counter to all international documents and humanitarian norms.”