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Azerbaijan cut off a fiber-optic cable in the Lachin Corridor, disrupting internet access in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) late on Thursday, authorities said.

Artak Beglaryan, an advisor to the Artsakh state minister, said in a statement that the incident happened at 5:55 p.m. on August 17, adding Azerbaijani forces did not allow Artsakh specialists and Russian peacekeepers to access the site and restore the cable.

Negotiations between the peacekeepers and the Azerbaijani side to allow Artsakh specialists to repair the cable continued on Friday morning.

“I don’t find it to be a coincidence that this new crime took place after the UN Security Council meeting and literally five minutes before the start of an online press conference on the genocide in Artsakh,” Beglaryan said.

He stressed that because of the disruption, Artsakh-based speakers of the press conference, Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan and displaced citizen Alvina Nersisyan, could join the two other speakers only with a 45-minute delay by using an unstable connection line.

“Despite Azerbaijan's efforts, the press conference did take place and was attended by about 130 people from 27 countries,” Beglaryan noted.

The official said that only a limited number of users could use unstable internet with antennas under harsh jamming by Azerbaijan.