Azerbaijanis in Armenian Army Uniforms Approached Our Positions, Harutyunyan Did Not Investigate and Claimed They Were Our Own: Investigation Committee

It was reported earlier that charges have been brought against the former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Jalal Harutyunyan.

Below, we present an excerpt from the charges as presented by the Investigation Committee of Armenia.

On October 11, 2020, a fire position was occupied by the artillery division of the N military unit near the settlement of Juvarlu in the Varanda region. On October 12, around 17:30, from the command observation post of the division, more than 100 servicemen were observed moving towards the fire position, among whom were individuals wearing Armenian Army uniforms.

Seeing the mentioned grouping and suspecting it to be an enemy diversion group, the division commander at the observation post immediately ordered his subordinate personnel via radio to leave the fire position and rushed to his personnel. Meanwhile, the head of artillery of the military unit reported the approaching group via radio to the army's artillery division and requested clarification on their affiliation.

This information was transmitted to Colonel G.B. at the command point, who subsequently reported it to Lieutenant General J.H. The latter did not thoroughly investigate, process, or categorize the reliability of the information received about the situation, nor did he cross-check the information from various sources, organize additional reconnaissance, or conduct a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the situational data to draw substantiated conclusions. He did not discuss the information obtained with the officers of the relevant services, did not review his operational maps, but without justification stated that the mentioned grouping was friendly, which was communicated to the division's personnel.

During this time, before receiving further information from the advanced command post, the personnel at the fire positions prepared to leave, brought up vehicles, and began to collect their belongings. After receiving information about the group being friendly from the artillery staff, the head of artillery of the N military unit, by order, instructed the division to remain at the fire position and continue duty, returning the vehicles to their former parking places.

The division commander remained doubtful about the information received regarding the group's affiliation and requested further clarification in his presence regarding the observed grouping. Subsequently, with the radio communication through the relevant command hierarchies, an additional request for clarification was reported to Lieutenant General J.H. This time, approaching the operational map, discussions were held among the officers of the operational and reconnaissance departments, after which, without clarifying the affiliation of the approaching personnel and lacking any information on the movements of subordinate units in that area, it was communicated that the grouping was friendly, which was conveyed to the division's personnel.

Returning to the division's command observation post, the division commander continued to doubt the information regarding the friendly nature of the approaching group and kept observing. A few minutes later, the enemy diversion group bypassed the command observation post and moved towards the fire positions. The division commander confirmed from 500 meters that the approaching group was not friendly and ordered abandoning the fire position. However, due to incorrect information provided by Lieutenant General J.H. and the resulting premature command, the enemy had already reached the front mound of the 1st battery's fire position, shooting from 400 meters away with firearms and grenade launchers at the personnel and vehicles of the 1st battery.

The personnel of the 2nd battery, being near the road while fighting and sustaining 3 wounded, managed to leave the fire position, leaving behind the artillery and other material resources. In contrast, the 1st battery found itself directly under enemy fire, engaged in combat with the available resources and attempted to withdraw from the fire position, resulting in the loss of 20 servicemen of the battery in an unequal battle, while 7 servicemen sustained injuries of varying severity. The location of the artillery commander, Lieutenant Colonel N.H., remains unknown to this day. The command observation post of the artillery division of the N military unit and the occupied fire positions near the settlement of Juvarlu have come under the enemy's control, including 8 D-20 howitzers, 4 Ural vehicles, and a substantial amount of arms and ammunition, including artillery shells and classified documents containing service secrets stored at the command observation post and in the batteries. The enemy gained territorial and strategic advantage in the region, as subsequently, on October 13, the mentioned enemy diversion group reached and took control over the permanent deployment site of the N military unit without obstacles.