They are quickly beheading the front-line corps without thinking twice, but if anything happens, they will blame the military again, military expert Karen Vrtanesyan told NEWS.am. "I am sure all this is done on purpose. They do not give people time to get used to their work. Pashinyan, as a populist with authoritarian inclinations, is striving to degrade those institutions which do not obey him and is rebuilding them around his personality," he added.

He recalled that after coming to power Pashinyan first of all subordinated the military commissar to the Ministry of Defense, although the commissar must be independent in order to conduct an impartial inspection in the same Ministry of Defense. All these systems are breaking down. "In the second corps, three commanders and five chiefs of general staff of the Armenian Armed Forces have been replaced during Pashinyan's 5 years in power," Vrtanesyan stressed.

The expert described the defeat on the battlefield as a problem not only of the soldier, but of the entire system - supply, planning, exercises.  "Armenia has not held a single major military exercise for two years," he recalled.

A fire broke out on January 19 at about 1:30 a.m. in the shelter of the engineer-sapper company of the Nth military unit of the Armenian Defense Ministry, located in the Azat village of Gegharkunik province. According to preliminary information, 15 servicemen died as a result of the fire. A criminal case was instigated and the commander of the second army corps and other officials were dismissed.