Colonel arrested for violating rules of combat duty Karabakh war

PanARMENIAN.Net - A high-ranking officer who held the position of commander in the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army during the 44-day war of 2020 has been arrested.

Identified by the Investigative Committee as Colonel S.A., the officer, in conditions of enhanced combat duty, violated two rules of combat duty established by a number of regulations.

In particular, on September 26, 2020, S.A. organized and held a feast on the occasion of the day of the formation of a military unit with the participation of the main part of the officers of the military unit and other guests invited by him, about 100 officers of the Defense Army, during which one of the commanders of subordinate units put on combat duty received reports of movement and accumulation forces and assets on the front line and behind enemy lines, a sharp increase in the risk of going over to hostilities.

In such conditions, the commander was obliged to make a decision to bring all the personnel and means of the military unit to a state of full combat readiness, prepare combat positions and identify, prevent, repel a sudden enemy attack and report this to superiors as soon as possible, but he took no action instead.

"Moreover, on September 27, 2020 from 06:10 in the area of ​​protection of the military unit and amid the advancement of tanks, armored vehicles and manpower by the enemy to the front line, being obliged to make a decision on his own initiative to bring all the personnel and means of the military unit to state of full combat readiness and report this to a higher commander, continued to show inaction and not fulfill the powers and duties assigned to him by legal acts," the Committee said in a statement.

"Under these conditions, on September 27, 2020, at about 07:10, the Azerbaijani armed forces launched a large-scale offensive along this line of defense and in the following hours broke through the defenses of a number of combat positions, inflicting heavy losses on the troops․ As a result, the entire personnel of the military unit was forced to retreat, the villages of Talysh and Matagis of the Martakert region of Artsakh came under the control of the enemy."

S.A. has been charged with violating the rules of combat duty or combat service during martial law, war or in a combat situation. He was arrested by the decision of the court on July 29, 2022. The investigation is ongoing.