Azerbaijan threatens Chernobyl-style ‘catastrophe’ in Caucasus drone war, Forbes reported.

"The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has erupted into open warfare again. As previously noted on Forbes, there has recently been an alarming build-up of drone air forces on both sides. Azerbaijan has now threatened to use its capability to hit Armenia's only atomic power plant," the author of the article David Hambling noted.

"At least 16 people have been reported killed in the fighting. Drones have again featured, with both claiming to have shot down enemy drones. Azerbaijan denies Armenian claims to have shot down no less than 13 of their unmanned aircraft. Armenian officials claim that Azerbaijani drones attacked civilian targets in the town of Berd. Fighting now appears to have paused but the situation is tense. In Azerbaijan, thousands of protesters took to the streets to support retaking Nagorno-Karabakh by military force."

According to Hambling, "the most alarming development is the threat of nuclear “catastrophe” made by Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargyakhly on Thursday. According to TASS, Dargyakhly stated that their weapons “are capable of hitting the Metzamur Atomic Energy Station with high accuracy, which will turn into a catastrophe for Armenia.”

As the author noted, this threat was voiced allegedly after the Armenian 'threat to the Mingachevir dam, which hold 15 billion cubic meters of water, supplying a vital hydroelectric power plant. Armenia denies any such threat, saying they never attack civilian targets and have not suggested hitting the dam.'

“Statements of this kind are a crime," Armenian Defense Ministry ex-spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told reporters.

According to the publication, "while Azerbaijan does possess a handful of long-range ballistic missiles — which Dargyakhly mentions — with 30-meter CEP (the size circle they can hit 50% of the time) these are not necessarily accurate enough to hit something as small as a specific building. LORA ballistic missiles supplied by Israel are claimed to be more accurate (10 meters) thanks to a television-guided terminal seeker supplementing GPS guidance but finding an exact target may be challenging."

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have small UAVs. Azerbaijan seeks to import more and more drones. On June 22, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry confirmed that the country is purchasing drones from Turkey, which provides financial support for the purchase of weapons.

As Hambling noted, most likely we are talking about the Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, which Turkey exported to other states and which 'has reportedly proven highly effective in Libya and Syria, notably destroying Russian-built air-defense systems with guided missiles.'

“The situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains tense. There is no sign yet of either side carrying out threats to strategic infrastructure, but the potential for a disaster that might spread far beyond the Caucasus has been made plain. The specter has been raised and it is not going to go away," Hambling concluded.