Retreat from the Captured Heights: Details on the Loss of the "Arega" Heights and the City of Shushi

The investigative committee of Armenia has completed an investigation into particularly grave and medium severity crimes committed by a high-ranking officer during the 44-day war in Artsakh in 2020. This report comes from the Armenian Investigative Committee’s Military Investigation Department.

Through extensive investigations, the actions taken by subordinate units regarding the defense organization of the strategically significant "Arega" heights and the city of Shushi have been restored with detailed precision. The information obtained is crucial for objectively uncovering the circumstances of the 44-day war in Artsakh and its losses.

During the investigation, extensive interrogations were conducted, including confrontational interrogations that took place over several days. All documents, maps of combat operations, and video recordings of interest were seized and examined.

The investigation established that during the first days of the aggressive war unleashed against Artsakh by the Azerbaijani military-political leadership, the "Arega" heights, serving as a significant command observation point, came under the control of Azerbaijani armed forces on September 28, 2020.

On September 29, around 07:00, a counteroffensive was initiated by subordinate units, resulting in the destruction of enemy armored vehicles and the majority of the enemy's personnel on the heights. As a strategic move, two armored personnel carriers were seized. On the same day, at 09:50, despite suffering casualties and injuries, subordinate units managed to regain control over the "Arega" heights.

Later that day, around 16:00, a high-ranking officer met with the commanders of the unit conducting the counteroffensive and was informed that the "Arega" heights and adjacent combat positions were under the control of his units. Without having directives to visit the area or conduct any combat assignments from his superiors, he irrationally ordered the unit to abandon the liberated "Arega" heights and retreat.

The commander of the unit involved in the counteroffensive refused to comply, arguing that the heights were already under his units' control. The high-ranking officer insisted on his orders by leveraging his authority and demanded immediate compliance, citing his better understanding of the situation.

The unit commander ordered his subordinate personnel to carry out the high-ranking officer's command to retreat, resulting in the enemy occupying the "Arega" heights without resistance by 23:00 on the same day.

Subsequent attempts to retake the "Arega" heights on October 3 and 5 failed, resulting in additional casualties and injuries among his subordinate personnel.

The investigation also established that on October 27, 2020, enemy units succeeded in taking control of the village of Avetaranots in the Askeran region of the Republic of Artsakh, after which the high-ranking officer acknowledged in a written document that the enemy aimed to seize the city of Shushi.

On October 29, at approximately 06:00, the enemy fully took control of the village of Sghnakh and began advancing towards the cities of Karin Tak and Shushi. This information was reported to the high-ranking officer. On October 30, he issued a combat order to one of his units to prepare defenses against the enemy's advancements towards Karin Tak from 4 kilometers south and 2 kilometers southeast.

On October 31, between 06:00 and 07:00, before occupying the defense line, it became apparent that the position had already fallen under enemy control, impacting the defensive front significantly. The commander reported that units were absent from the right flank of the defensive line, enabling the enemy to approach the Shushi-Lisagor highway easily.

Despite having this information, the officer did not instruct for troop deployments in the specified areas, leading the enemy to circumvent his forces on November 2, 2020, capturing the territory between the cities of Shushi and Lisagor.

The absence of adequate organized defense enabled enemy groups to cross the Shushi-Lisagor highway in the early hours of November 4, gathering forces and advancing towards Shushi.

The investigation revealed that despite having around 550 soldiers from four units available, which had not been deployed in combat, the high-ranking officer failed to evaluate the situation correctly. He made inadequate arrangements, resulting in a lack of effective defensive action in the organization of the protective operation for Shushi.

Until November 6, he continued to misreport to his superiors, describing the situation as complex yet controllable, despite enemy penetration into the city on November 5.

The high-ranking officer failed to ensure the effective utilization of combat capabilities, did not control the execution of set tasks, and breached the principle of unilateral command over the forces. His premature engagement of units resulted in significant casualties among his subordinates while the enemy advanced effectively, resulting in their complete capture of Shushi and its surroundings by November 7.

For these criminal actions, high-ranking officer M.A. (Mikael Arzumanyan) was subjected to public criminal prosecution under Article 375, Part 4, and Article 376, Part 3 of the Armenian Criminal Code, and he has been placed under detention. The investigation has concluded, with the supervising prosecutor endorsing the indictment and the case referred to the court for substantive examination.