Armenian News - NEWS.am starts a series of publications dedicated to the second Artsakh war, in which it will present the official and real chronology of events, day after day.
Many events remained in the shadows, many information was hidden, during the war, and even more so in the months following the catastrophe, many questions accumulated, the answers to most of which have not yet been voiced: why and how Shushi fell, why official information and information received from front, contradicted each other, why the Prime Minister confidently said during the interview that at the moment the Armenian forces had launched a counterattack and were crushing the back of the opponent's arm.
Exactly one year after the 44-day war, Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a chronicle of those days, making it possible to more soberly assess the course and events of the war.
So, the 44-day war:
Day one - September 27
Press secretary of Artsakh President Vahram Poghosyan made the first announcement about the outbreak of hostilities on September 27 at 08:00 am.
A few minutes later, on his Facebook page, addressing the “proud citizens”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the opponent had launched an offensive in the direction of Artsakh.
According to him, the defense army successfully resisted the attack. At the end of the message was posted the first wording-promise "we will win."
At 08:30 on Facebook, it turned out that Armenian ex-Defense Minister David Tonoyan, who was abroad at that time, posted on Facebook. He noted that he had a telephone conversation with the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in the Karabakh conflict zone Andrzej Kasprzyk.
According to the minister's words, Azerbaijan began "another provocation", although it was already known that this was not a provocation, but large-scale military actions along the entire perimeter of the line.
For the first time, the former press secretary of the Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan, who in recent months, as well as during the coverage of the July battles, self-proclaimed himself the official representative of the direct enemy fire.
At 10:30, the President of Artsakh made a video message with a promise of victory.
“I assure you that our Armed Forces are strong in their positions, and the answer will be proportionate. All responsibility for the situation lies with the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan, and it will answer for every loss. This is a war not for life, but for death, which we accept as the whole nation and we will defeat the nation,” Arayik Harutyunyan noted.
Azerbaijan did not declare war, but began, and immediately announced that it was allegedly going over to a counteroffensive.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II interrupted his visit to Italy, postponed his meeting with Pope Francis and announced his return to Armenia. He called on the people to unite and all political forces to subordinate contradictions to the needs of defending the Motherland.
At 11:00, the Defense Ministry announced that about 10,000 citizens applied to military commissariats with a request to enroll in the army and go to the contact line in Karabakh, noting that there was no need for this.
A few minutes later Nikol Pashinyan made a third entry on the social network.
"Nothing will stop us on the way to defend the Freedom and Rights of the people of Artsakh," he wrote.
How exactly Pashinyan defends the rights of the people of Arats, including, in recent months, raises many questions.
On the first day of the war, around noon, some Armenian media was called on to adhere to the official news policy under martial law and refrain from disseminating theses of Azerbaijani propaganda.
Until noon, the Ministry of Defense issued several reports on the losses of the Azerbaijani side: helicopters, drones, armored vehicles. Nothing was reported about the destruction of manpower.
Arayik Harutyuyan distributed a second video message, noting: "We have information that over the past few days, volunteers or mercenaries have been delivered to Azerbaijan on different planes from Turkey and other countries. For a long time, the Turkish army has actually been in Azerbaijan, under the pretext of exercises, but we understand what the goal is. For several days now, they began a general mobilization, presenting, of course, a false agenda, they say, Armenia is preparing for war. We have always prepared for war, but at the same time we are not supporters of it. They will answer for any sacrifice. We are in favor of negotiations, and today we declare: come to your senses, before it is too late."
During and after the war, Pashinyan made contradictory statements about whether he knew or not about the impending war, meanwhile, from the words of Harutyunyan it becomes clear that the war was not inevitable.
Harutyunyan hints that a few days ago, from the UN rostrum, Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of intending to attack Azerbaijan. The next day, in his speech, Pashinyan did not respond with a single word to the slander, thereby making it easier for Azerbaijan not to come under international pressure because of the war with Artsakh.
Exactly at noon, despite the fact that Artsrun Hovhannisyan's warning had already been sounded, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted a video on the situation in Artsakh on his Facebook page.
Artsakh President announced general mobilization and martial law.
Minutes later, Pashinyan announced his intention to hold a meeting of the Security Council. The prime minister also wrote that the government will discuss the issue of declaring martial law and partial mobilization.
Ankara accused Armenia of "attacking" Azerbaijan. Turkish President's spokesman Ibrahim Kalyn said that Ankara supports Baku and condemns the latest actions of Armenia in Azerbaijan. Prior to that, only Russia from the international community called on the parties to immediately end hostilities and sit down at the negotiating table.
Press Secretary of the Armenian Defense Minister Shushan Stepanyan shared two videos showing how the Armenian armed forces knock out Azerbaijani military equipment, including tanks, as well as enemy personnel. Nothing specific was reported about the number of enemy casualties.
At about 12:30 pm, Pashinyan posted on Facebook that martial law and general mobilization were declared in the Republic of Armenia by the decision of the Government. He called on the personnel assigned to the troops to appear at their territorial military registration and enlistment offices.
An hour before this, the Ministry of Defense reported on the accumulation of volunteers at the military registration and enlistment offices, noting that this was not necessary.
During the day, Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Later, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the President of the European Union Charles Michel and the head of the Council of Europe, Maria Peichinovich Buric, made an appeal to end hostilities. The Foreign Ministers of France and Ukraine made statements. Pope Francis called for peace. Appeals were also made by NATO, Germany, Iran and other countries.
The senior officers of the Armenian Armed Forces presented the operational situation resulting from the hostile military actions unleashed along the entire line of contact, as well as the punitive measures carried out by the Armenian Armed Forces to contain the enemy's actions and proportionate actions.
Pashinyan noted that the task of the Armenian Armed Forces is one - victory, and the entire Armenian people, as always, support the army.
After 10pm the PM spoke about the lost positions mainly in the direction of Talysh and on the southern flank: there are dozens of victims, dozens of wounded, as well as dozens of wounded and civilian casualties.