During a press conference today, third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan declared that no unmanned aerial vehicle reached Stepanakert during the Four-Day Artsakh War. This statement sparked different statements on social networks, and many people cited the statement by spokesperson of ex-President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Davit Babayan that an Azerbaijani unmanned aerial vehicle was spotted in Stepanakert during the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Nagorno-Karabakh. At the time, Babayan had stated that the UAV, which flew in the sky in Stepanakert during the talks between the Minsk Group and ex-President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, was crushed.

In an interview with ArmLur.am, Babayan, who is current advisor to the incumbent President of Artsakh, said the following:

“I don’t want to interfere or say who is right and who is wrong. I’ll simply state the facts. The Co-Chairs visited Artsakh. After the meeting, we stepped outside, they gave a briefing to representatives of 15 or more media outlets. At that moment, there truly was an unmanned aerial vehicle in Stepanakert, but the air force units crushed it. However, the Co-Chairs had visited Artsakh on April 7 or 8, if I’m not mistaken, yet the Four-Day Artsakh War had ended, meaning the ceasefire had been officially approved on April 5.”

When asked if he hadn’t noticed an unmanned aerial vehicle before April 5, Babayan said the following:

“Various unmanned aerial vehicles were struck in different parts of the border, but I don’t know for sure. However, the Co-Chairs came on April 7 or 8, and we showed them that even in these conditions, Azerbaijan was violating the ceasefire regime. This was specifically after the ceasefire had been declared.”