Chechen mercenaries never fought on Karabakh side – Foreign Ministry

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Nagorno Karabakh Republic Foreign Ministry commented on the statement by the President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, suggesting that Chechen mercenaries fought in Karabakh on both sides.

“The statements that Chechen mercenaries fought for the Karabakh Armenians are absolutely untrue. Unlike Azerbaijan, NKR never had any no mercenaries of any nationality fighting on its side.

On the contrary, it was the Azerbaijani authorities, who unleashed a full-scale war against Artsakh, extensively used mercenaries, trying to break the morale of the Karabakh Armenians. Numerous facts testify that in 1992-1993, about 3.000 Afghan mujahedins, as well as Chechen detachments headed by Shamil Basayev fought against the Karabakh Army. In early July 1992, the Chechen mercenaries in Nagorno Karabakh amounted to about 300.

In July 1993, Chechen-Press Agency reported about Chechens' participation in the military activities in Nagorno Karabakh, which was confirmed by the first losses among them. After suffering heavy losses, the Chechen troops left the Karabakh war scene.

In 2000, Basayev gave an interview to ANS Azerbaijani TV Company, admitting his involvement in the Karabakh war: “We came to fight in Karabakh not for trophies, but for the idea of jihad“. However, Basayev said, “when we arrived at the scene and saw the situation, we realized that there was no sign of jihad”.