Azerbaijan announced Monday the start of a prisoner exchange process with Armenia, more than a month after the agreement ended the six-week fighting between the two countries for control of Nagorny Karabakh.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani Committee for Prisoners of War and Missing Persons declared, "After negotiations with the Armenian side and with the participation of international organizations and the leadership of Russian peacekeepers, an agreement was reached to exchange prisoners and hostages."

The operation began Monday, according to the same source, who stated that "the return of Azerbaijani prisoners of war and hostages to Azerbaijan took place during the day."

The Armenian authorities did not immediately comment on the matter.

Seperately, Baku announced Monday the arrest of four Azerbaijani soldiers, two of whom were accused of "abusing the corpses of Armenian soldiers who fell in the battles" and two others of "destroying Armenian gravestones in a cemetery" located in the area where the battles took place.

The four members photographed their abuses and posted them on social media.

An investigation was opened against them on charges of "brutal and inhuman treatment" and another on charges of "desecrating graves or bodies," according to what the Azerbaijani prosecutor said in a statement.

The prosecution also condemned the "unacceptable actions contrary to the mentality of the Azerbaijani people."

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of Nagorny Karabakh ended in early November with an agreement to stop the fighting, in which Armenia recognized its military defeat and Baku gained control of large territories.

And according to which Russian soldiers were deployed to keep the peace in the region.

Thousands of the two camps were killed during the fighting, which is the worst since their first war in the 1990s.