11:28, 25 January 2021

Military analysts in Yerevan doubt official data on combat losses

A destroyed tank. Nagorno-Karabakh. December 31, 2020. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The forecast about 4000 casualties on the Armenian party during the autumn aggravation of the Karabakh conflict does not inspire confidence, Armenian experts have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, Tigran Avinyan, Vice-Premier of Armenia, said that 3439 bodies of those who perished on the Armenian party in Karabakh were found. The authorities are sure that Armenian combat losses did not exceed 4000 persons.

The Vice-Premier's statement would be accurate if the methodology for calculating combat losses were presented, said Aik Khachikyan, a military analyst.

"It is not clear whether the militaries who came from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), who died at war and were buried in Artsakh, were taken into account," he has explained.

The Caspian Defence Studies Institute (CDSI) has indicated that, according to unofficial data, the Armenia's and Karabakh's losses amounted to 6000 persons. The number of those wounded and mutilated was 8000, said Djasur Sumerinli, Director of the Institute.

According to Khachikyan, it is not clear what data the calculations of the authors of the CDSI's report were based on.

He has also suggested that the use of UAVs (drones) had allowed the enemy to reduce the count of its losses.

Robert Nazaryan, a military expert, agrees that the use of drones had reduced the Azerbaijan's combat losses.

In its turn, on January 18, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the names of 2855 Azerbaijani soldiers who perished in the battles for Nagorno-Karabakh, and counted 50 missing persons.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 24, 2021 at 03:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan

Source: CK correspondent