Russian blogger Igor Shiryaev was among the group of journalists who visited Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) to participate in events marking the 30th anniversary of the Karabakh movement on February 10-13.

“Having traveled to a lot of beautiful and exotic spots on the planet, I find Karabakh one of the few places that I call real,” Shiryaev said in a Facebook post.

“There are higher mountains, more exotic nature, and richer countries, but Karabakh is real!”

The country, according to the blogger, is populated by properly educated people who have experienced a lot and, surprisingly, have become not worse, but better people.

“They do not ask for anything from anyone. They just want to be left alone and allowed to live peacefully on the land they consider their own,” Shiryaev said.

“And I absolutely agree with them. Nowhere else do I feel so free and at the same time safe as in Karabakh.”

During the visit, the members of the group met the Primate of the Diocese of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, parliament speaker Ashot Ghulyan, foreign minister Masis Mailyan, human rights defender Ruben Melikyan to name a few.