One Year Ago at 7:10 AM, Azerbaijan Launched a Large-Scale Aggression Against Artsakh

One year ago, on September 27, 2020, at 7:10 AM, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against the Republic of Artsakh. The combat operations took place along the entire length of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line and in certain sections of the Armenia-Azerbaijan contact line, lasting 44 days. Simultaneously, in almost all directions of the contact line, the enemy commenced attacks using air forces, artillery, and drones, including shelling peaceful civilian settlements.

On the first day of the war unleashed by Turkish-Azerbaijani forces, a state of martial law and general mobilization was declared in Armenia and Artsakh.

During the 44 days of the war, Azerbaijan employed weaponry prohibited by international law, including cluster munitions, phosphorus weapons, and Bayraktar drones, targeting the civilian population and infrastructure of Artsakh and Armenia. With Turkey's assistance, thousands of Syrian mercenary-terrorists were transported to Azerbaijan before and throughout the war and were sent to the Artsakh front. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the total number of Syrian militants involved in the clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh reached at least 2,350, of whom 320 returned to Syria, refusing their payment and participation in the battles.

On November 9, 2020, a trilateral statement was signed by the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, according to which a large part of the territory of the Republic of Artsakh was handed over to Azerbaijani control—namely, the territories of Karvachar, Aknaghajar, and Lachin except for the Lachin corridor, the city of Shushi, most of the Hadrut region, and certain villages of the Askeran and Martakert regions. The security of the remaining territories of the Republic of Artsakh is now maintained by Russian peacekeepers.

As a result of the devastating war, the Armenian side officially reported at least 4,000 deaths, with hundreds of missing persons and captives.