273 refugees returned to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday, December 28, their safety was ensured by Russian peacekeepers, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"273people were delivered from Yerevan to Stepanakert by buses, which were accompanied by patrol vehicles of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the military police," the statement says.

More than 46,000 refugees have so far returned to their places of permanent residence in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the peacekeepers are conducting round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and the ceasefire from their observation posts across Karabakh.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.