Nagorno-Karabakh residents treat Azerbaijani video about Gadrut as falsification

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released a video, which was allegedly filmed in the city of Gadrut, occupied by Azerbaijani military servicemen. Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh assert that the video was filmed in a village located in the vicinity of this strategically important city.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsperson that on October 10, already after the parties had announced a ceasefire, Turkish saboteurs penetrated into Gadrut and shot dead at least four civilians. The Azerbaijani MoD has treated it as disinformation. On October 12, Armenian authorities claimed that the Azerbaijani Army, having concentrated huge forces in the Gadrut area, was trying to capture the city. Later, the Karabakh authorities announced that their Defence Army had repulsed the offensive on Gadrut. At the same time, the Azerbaijani MoD claimed that Gadrut had been controlled by Azerbaijani soldiers for several days; and there were no battles there on October 12.

On October 13, the Azerbaijani MoD released a video, which was allegedly filmed in the Azerbaijani-controlled Gadrut.

This video, posted on the MoD's website, first shows a road in a mountainous area; an Azerbaijani flag is seen fluttering on a high hill. Among the mountains, from afar, some dwelling settlement with multi-storey buildings can be seen. Then the clip shows streets of some settlement, which are empty; minor damage can be noticed.

This video was filmed not in Gadrut, says a Nagorno-Karabakh resident, who had repeatedly visited this city and its environs. "Judging by the terrain, this is not Gadrut, but a village adjacent thereto," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Ovik Avanesov, the head of the Armenian NGO "Centre for Youth Social Studies", has supported this opinion and wrote about it in his Facebook page, where he also posted satellite-like photos with marks.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 13, 2020 at 10:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.