Russian border guards were the first to alert the NSS about the suspected illegal border crossing early on December 11. They spotted damage caused to barbed wire protecting a section of the Armenian-Turkish border and footprints leading from there towards the nearby village of Ranchpar.
In a December 12 statement, the NSS said it is taking “necessary operational-intelligence measures” in connection with the alert. It has still not clarified whether someone indeed crossed the frontier and was detained as a result. Contacted by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday, the security service said only that the public should follow official statements.
Armenia - People walk on a street in the village of Ranchpar, December 13, 2024.
The lack of information is not allaying the lingering security concerns of Ranchpar residents. The village school, which is especially close to the border, was briefly closed right after the reported incident. The parents and grandparents of young students have since been escorting them to and from the school.
Simon Tumanian, a physics teacher, criticized the authorities for their silence, saying that it is keeping the small community 25 kilometers south of Yerevan on edge.
“At one point, there was talk of two persons who crossed the border and were arrested,” said another villager. “Then there were rumors that it was crossed by ten people or that … saboteurs have entered the village and people will be evacuated.”
The Russians have been guarding Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite its heightened tensions with Moscow, the Armenian government has so far signaled no plans to seek their withdrawal.