Dependent on outside aid and braced for renewed clashes with Azerbaijan, there are fears Karabakh Armenians might soon be forced out of the breakaway region for good.
Days before Azerbaijan launched an assault against Armenia, Armenians began using a new, Azerbaijan-constructed road to travel between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
Tension between the two sides has been exacerbated by continuing disagreement of the nature of a road that would connect the two parts of Azerbaijan through Armenian territory.
Ruben Vardanyan has said his move is a patriotic gesture and he has dropped hints about entering politics. But others wonder if international sanctions against Russia may be motivating him, too.