Karabakh soldier defects to Azerbaijani side

Araik Gazaryan, a military serviceman of the Defence Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), has defected to the enemy's side, the press service of the NKR's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed. The deserting soldier said that he had fled because of the lawlessness in his military unit, the Azerbaijani MoD has announced.

According to the Azerbaijani MoD, "the deserted enemy soldier was detained on the morning on August 12 in the Fizuli section of the Karabakh frontline."

"For a long period [the deserted soldier] was repeatedly subjected to physical and moral pressure from the commanders, as evidenced by haematomas on his head and wounds on his body. At present, Araik Gazaryan is given medical care. Measures are undertaken to investigate the incident," the Azerbaijani MoD said in its press release, the translation of which was made by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In its turn, the press service of the NKR's MoD has stated that a 19-year-old soldier of the Defence Army, Araik Gazaryan, has deserted to the Azerbaijani side.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 12, 2019 at 08:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.