62 Shiraz Residents Assured They Would Be Handed Over to Peacekeepers and Disarmed, Returnees Share Their Story

"Factinfo" interviewed two soldiers captured from Khzaberd and returned to their homeland, asking them to share the grim story of their capture and the loss of Armenian villages. It turns out that the soldiers found themselves trapped by Azerbaijani forces without prior knowledge. Moreover, Armenian servicemen had been instructed not to fire if they encountered Azerbaijanis, but rather to report to the command.

Returned prisoner of war Manvel (name changed) recounted that the battalion, consisting of 100 personnel, moved to Hin Tagher on November 27, where 62 took position, while the other 38 went with the commander to another location for a scheduled rotation. They ascended to combat positions and began to defend, which was supposed to last 14 days, but the rotation never arrived.

“There were tents in the positions, and there were no amenities. The rotation never came. As a military serviceman, I imagined there would be combat positions, but we found only tents—no facilities, and to make it worse, it was winter and cold. During the 14 days, we had sick individuals, some with severe conditions—one had a cough, another injured his leg, and in those cold conditions, without any means of sleeping comfortably or warming up, we conducted combat duty for 17 days. Communication devices—radio and phone—worked sporadically in certain areas. Some personnel were far away at a supply point, providing supplies to the battalion. They saw the commander only once on the day of positioning,” said the returned prisoner of war.

According to him, the battalion commander was Arsen Ghazaryan, and the others included mobilization officers Arman Muradyan and Hovhannes, who were encouraged during their service.

“The command structure was situated far from us; we saw them only once when they brought us and showed us our positions, saying, ‘These are the positions where you will conduct combat duty.’ After that, we did not see the commander; contact was only through phone,” he added.

During their combat rotation, they noticed that Azerbaijanis were engaged in construction work in a neighboring village, increasing their positioning and fire, which they reported to their superiors.

“We reported that they were positioning and approaching us, and the fires were increasing. We asked, ‘Are we in a blockade?’ To which they replied, ‘There’s no such thing; we will extract you, a rotation is coming, and other similar promises,’” said the interviewee from “Factinfo”.

Initially, they reported the situation to their immediate superior and then also to the ‘cambat’ (operational branch), who gave them the same answer: ‘There’s no such thing; no matter what happens, you will conduct your rotation, and we will get you out,’” he recounted.

No fights or crossfire occurred during the rotation; they only noted how the number of enemy troops increased over the 17 days.

“If initially we saw them from a distance, then eventually they were getting closer. Movement was visible in the Khzaberd-Hin Tagher area. We were in an elevated zone, while they were below. The movement was noticeable.”

The boys from Armavir were informed about leaving the position, but those from Shiraz were not. On December 13, the promised rotation still did not arrive, and Shiraz servicemen remained in their positions. They were not alone in the area; a little farther away were the boys from Armavir’s mobilization unit, from whom they heard the first strange news.

“We received news from the Armavir mobilization unit that by five o'clock, they would leave their positions, as failing to do so would lead the enemy to launch a full-scale attack. Additionally, we were told that the positions would be handed over to the Turks since we were under siege. Some of our guys decided not to base their actions on those words and sought clarifications from the higher command. At that time, they denied it, saying, ‘Complete your combat duty; if anything happens, we will inform you; you will be directed by our orders, and don’t listen to other rumors,’” said the returned prisoner.

The continuation of the published testimonies can be found on the original source website.