The family of an Armenian prisoner held in Azerbaijan, Ludwig Mkrtchyan, has warned that his health had significantly deteriorated whilst in detention amidst a lack of adequate medical care.
Mkrtchyan was captured by Azerbaijan in the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. According to RFE/RL, he was a volunteer fighter.
The concerns were first raised by lawyer Luciana Minassian on Monday, who wrote on X that Mkrtchyan was ‘fighting for his life in Azerbaijani prison’.
She elaborated that he is suffering from severe heart damage, chronic headaches, dizziness, chest pain, and dangerously high blood pressure.
‘This is deliberate medical neglect of a 2020 POW’, Minassian wrote, adding that he has received ‘no real treatment’.
Mkrtchyan was sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to 20 years in 2021 on war crime charges dating back to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. His family maintains that he is innocent.
Mkrtchyan is one of 19 known Armenian prisoners currently held in Azerbaijan, including former military and political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, who were sentenced to extensive time in prison, including life imprisonment.
The last group of Armenian prisoners was released by Azerbaijan in January, when four detainees were returned to Armenia. At least two were in poor physical and psychological conditions.
One of those released in January, 70-year-old Vaghif Khachatryan, was hospitalised the month prior, with his condition described as serious at the time. Another detainee, Lebanese–Armenian Vigen Euljekjian, suffered from multiple health issues, went on hunger strike, and reportedly attempted to take his own life while in Azerbaijan.
Speaking to RFE/RL on Wednesday, Mkrtchyan’s wife, Hranush Shahbazyan, confirmed the reported deterioration in his health, saying he had no medical issues before his capture. Her husband’s voice alone, as Shahbazyan said, reflects how much his condition has worsened, both physically and mentally.
‘Although [the Azerbaijanis] keep telling him that everything is fine, he himself says he’s in very bad shape. Even when he speaks, he struggles badly and becomes short of breath’, she said.
Shahbazyan says that she is only allowed to speak with Mkrtchyan once every 40 days for around 10 minutes at a time.
She further cited her husband as saying that there are no doctors available in prison after 16:004:00 p.m., and that after he recently became seriously ill, he underwent an ECG but was never informed of the results.
‘Now we’re still waiting for them to send his medical records to the European Court [of Human Rights] (ECHR), so that it can get a clearer picture’, she said.
According to RFE/RL, Azerbaijan is required by the ECHR to provide information about the condition of Armenian prisoners. The documents Mkrtchyan’s family received so far indicated that he has serious health problems and that he requires urgent attention.
The Armenian prisoners’ families access to information has become increasingly limited after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) suspended its operations Azerbaijan in September 2025 after the authorities said it ‘must leave’ the country.
The ICRC’s first and last visit to the Armenian prisoners took place in late December of that year.
According to Mkrtchyan’s wife, he was also in a ‘hopeless, despairing state’ and had grown increasingly doubtful that he would ever return to Armenia. Despite her continuing to encourage him, she herself fears his condition is rapidly worsening and sees a need for immediate action.
She added that since his capture, Mkrtchyan has never had the chance to live in the home they bought in Armenia’s Ararat Province, has missed his daughter’s wedding, and has never met his grandchildren.
‘If there’s peace, then at the very least the humanitarian aspect should be ensured. But I still don’t see that’, Shahbazyan stressed.
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