Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that Karabakh was lost because of Russia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the loss of Karabakh is entirely Russia’s fault. The reason for everything, according to Pashinyan, is the supply by the Russian side of low-quality and ineffective weapons, in particular, Iskander operational-tactical missile systems was total failure.
Despite the absence of official comments from the Armenian defense department on this matter and in general on the use of Russian Iskander OTRK, Armenia actively criticized Russian weapons as it reassesses its defense capability post Nagorno-karabakh conflict.
According to the Armenian news publication 1in.am, the key issue is precisely the quality of Russian weapons purchased by Armenian military.
In an exclusive interview with “First News”, answering the question about the accusation of the “Iskander” missile, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan actually made an almost sensational revelation. In particular, Pashinyan stated that Iskander missiles did not explode or exploded ten percent. He noted that Serzh Sargsyan asks questions, the answers to which he knows.
During the 44-day war, the issue of Iskander was one of the most talked about. The point is that “Iskander” was made public after the four-day war in April, it was presented as a terrible weapon of Armenia, which will always cause fear in Baku to start a war, and if it starts, it will simply destroy Azerbaijan. Of course, it should be noted that without Turkey’s support, Azerbaijan would not have started a war, fearing not only the presence of Iskander, but also the Armenian army in general, which was inferior to Baku in terms of armaments, but certainly superior in combat effectiveness.
The picture completely changes the situation in Turkey, one of the armies of NATO, both with its modern technological weapons and the modern ability to control it all automatically. which naturally predetermines the effectiveness of hostilities and becomes a decisive factor. After all, this is the so-called fifth generation of war.
Nevertheless, the Iskander is could have been a powerful weapon, or Baku has significant equivalents – the Belarusian “Polonez” and the Israeli “LORA”. However, why did not the most powerful weapon of the Armenian army, which is also considered an achievement of the Russian military industry, didn’t fire or explode? The point here is most likely that Russian weapons are cheap and poor quality.
The question is what was the quality of the supplied weapons to Armenia. And in that sense, Nikol Pashinyan’s statement is significant months ago, against the background of the statement of the former head of the General Staff of Armenia, General Artak Davtyan, after the end of the war. Responding to another general Movses Hakobyan’s accusation of changing the 2017 arms purchase plan after 2018, which Hakobyan eventually denied, stating that the plan had not changed since the revolution, General Davtyan made a statement that was received at the time.
Davtyan stated that the plan has not changed, and it is not so easy to change, as it is a bilateral process, that is, it must be agreed with the supplier. At the same time, Davtyan stated that When he was the head of the General Staff, he intended only to initiate a change in terms of Iskander missiles, which, however, did not materialize, as that intention was not approved by the Russian side. The general did not provide details, especially why he wanted to change the Iskander missiles, noting that there was information containing state secrets.
But now, when Nikol Pashinyan announces that the missiles did not explode or exploded by 10%, Serzh Sargsyan “knew that”, Artak Davtyan’s statement after the war becomes very remarkable. What problems did the Iskander supplies to Armenia have? Why? Who was responsible for them? Did Yerevan raise such issues with Russia by 2018? What was the answer? Was Azerbaijan aware of the possible problems with the missiles?
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