Natik, an Azeri, was just 17 when he was forced to flee his home town of Agdam as war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nearly 30 years later he is now able to return. Even though Agdam lies in ruins, he kisses the soil of his ancestors, happy it’s been returned to Azerbaijan.
By contrast, Armen, an ethnic Armenian, has had to give up his home after last year’s war. He and his neighbours are mourning the loss of the land they’ve lived on for the past 30 years.
BBC Russian’s reporters went to both sides of the divide between Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and met people whose lives were changed by the last year’s fighting and the peace agreement.
Reporters: Olga Ivshina, Olga Prosvirova, Ilya Barabanov and Marina Katayeva.
Cameramen: Max Lomakin and Evgeny Zhuravlev.
Produced by Kateryna Khinkulova.