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Azerbaijan’s seven-month long blockade of Artsakh has reached a critical point in which the lives of 120,000 people, including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly people, are seriously threatened, Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan warned on Friday.

Addressing thousands of people who gathered at Stepanakert’s Renaissance Square to protest the brutal blockade, Stepanyan stressed the Artsakh Armenians are facing malnutrition and starvation amid Azerbaijan’s blatant policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Artsakh.

“I am appealing to the international community and all actors who speak about human rights: tell me then, how do I look these people in the eye and tell them that they, too, have rights? How can I look a malnourished pregnant woman, whose child may be born with defects, in the eye?” he asked.

“How can I look into the eyes of mothers whose biggest dream is to get at least a handful of fruit or sweets for their children? How can I look into the eyes of thousands of people who stand in lines for hours to get a handful of sugar or vegetable oil? How can I look into the eyes of 20,000 elderly people who are experiencing inhuman sufferings to earn daily living?

“And, finally, how can I look into the eyes of a fallen soldier’s mother, who looks at me with terrified eyes, fearing that she would lose the last sacred thing she has, her son's grave? Answer me!

“I want you to look them in the eye and answer them yourself, because I can't find any more answers,” the ombudsman said, deploring the statements of international organizations that only express “deep concern” over the situation in Artsakh.

He also called on Russian peacekeepers to ensure real peace and prosperous life that they have promised to the people of Artsakh.

Stepanyan urged Armenians from around the world to stand in defense of Artsakh.

"Artsakh shall survive, against all the enemies and for the glory of all Armenians,'' he added.