The de facto authorities fortified government buildings in an apparent attempt to prevent a revolution like the ones that overthrew previous governments in 2020 and 2014.
The self-proclaimed environmental activists, who blocked the key road to Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly 140 days, now complain that their government is neglecting them.
The region's already meager electricity generation capacity is in jeopardy, and an "environmental disaster" could be at hand, the local de facto authorities say.
Armenia has long been on a trajectory of recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but the prime minister's explicit statement still triggered shock and outrage.
Baku has presented the border crossing as a demonstration of how Karabakh Armenians can live peacefully under Azerbaijani rule. But no one is using it.