The Director of the National Security Service of Armenia held a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons

ArmInfo. A regular meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons was held under the chairmanship of Andranik Simonyan, Director of the National Security Service of Armenia. This was reported by the press service of the National Security Service of Armenia.

In his opening remarks, the commission chairman, Director of the National Security Service of Armenia, presented the main issues identified at the previous meeting and the progress of implementing the instructions to address them. The legal framework of the Armenian Law "On Persons Missing in the Conditions and Circumstances Created as a Result of Military Action," which entered into force on May 1, 2026, was mentioned, emphasizing its importance for the systematic regulation of missing persons issues, as well as organizational measures aimed at implementing the law.

During the meeting, issues of coordination between various government agencies and interested entities were discussed. Following the discussions, relevant instructions were issued and key areas for organizing future work were identified.

It should be noted that the exact number of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in Azerbaijani prisons remains unknown. According to the latest data from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as of August 2024, approximately 1,000 individuals are considered missing on the Armenian side, with approximately 300 of these individuals reported missing following the latest escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone between autumn 2020 and autumn 2023. All data was collected by the ICRC based on appeals from relatives of the missing. The ICRC also reported that among these 300 individuals, there are several dozen appeals concerning cases where the family disagreed with the DNA data provided by the state.