The Story of Iskander Appears to Have Subtle Implications – Hakob Badalyan

Political scientist Hakob Badalyan wrote on his Facebook page: “The story of Iskander appears to have subtle implications. In response to the question of whether the criticism from the third president regarding the failure to launch Iskander was directed at him, Prime Minister Pashinyan replied, ‘also to me.’ If ‘also,’ then to whom else, given that Nikol Pashinyan also mentioned that the missile did not explode or exploded by 10 percent? This certainly requires investigation and professional evaluation, but the political implications are quite interesting. Pashinyan states that Sargsyan is asking a question to which he already knows the answer. Does this mean that ‘also to me’ simultaneously implies ‘also to the supplying country’? In other words, can we speculate that through this indirect debate or Q&A, a hint was made that the Iskanders supplied to Armenia actually had issues, and the purpose of the supply was merely to restore Russia's reputation, which had been somewhat shaken in the eyes of the Armenian public after the April War?

It is worth noting that Iskanders were supplied to Armenia before the April Four-Day War, but their existence was publicized after the war. Of course, the details of the supply are a separate story, according to sources who participated in the process at the time. The details refer to both the transportation and the overall decisions regarding the supply. This decision was not acceptable to all factions within the Russian elite, so to speak.

And, another interesting episode: About two or three months ago, while discussing the military procurement plan with Satik Seyranian, the former head of the General Staff, Arthur Davtyan noted that the plan for arms purchases approved in 2017 had not changed. He added that he wanted to make a change regarding the Iskander missiles, but this was not possible because it did not depend solely on the desire of the Armenian side. In other words, the Russian side did not want to make a change. The Chief of the General Staff indicated that he could not disclose further details, as they are not subject to publication. What was General Davtyan aiming to change during his tenure as Chief of Staff that the Russian side did not agree to?