Azerbaijan Claims It Did Not Use Grad in July, But Has a Commander Killed from Grad

On July 15, Artzrun Hovhannisyan announced that the Azerbaijani side had also used the Grad MLRS during the battles in the Tavush direction. A few days later, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense stated, 'If the Armenian side has any evidence that Grad or TOS-1A systems were used, let them present it.'

Razminfo has revealed that Azerbaijani senior lieutenant Reshad Mahmudov, who was killed in battles on July 13, was at least the commander of a Grad battery. According to information from Razm.info, back in July 2019, during a broadcast of the Azerbaijani ATV television, senior lieutenant Mahmudov introduced the purpose and features of the Grad system to a journalist. He also noted that they undergo three months of preparatory training for it.

Considering what Mahmudov said about the training, and the fact that he held the rank of senior lieutenant, it can be concluded that he was at least the commander of a Grad MLRS battery. Judging by the footage from Mahmudov's interview, he served in the 065 artillery unit of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces' 3rd Corps. This unit is stationed relatively in the rear, about 50 km away from the sites of the July combat operations.

The fact of Mahmudov's death near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border could be indirect evidence that the systems from this unit were brought into the combat zone. This suggests that the Azerbaijani side indeed attempted to use Grad during the July war. Otherwise, it wouldn't be logical for the Grad crew from the artillery unit, located in the relatively rear area of the 3rd Corps, to be in such close proximity to the front line, which allowed them to hit without using long-range means.