The Presenter and Expert of the Russian “First Channel” are Wrong: the Last Clashes not in Nagorno-Karabakh, but in the Sovereign Territory of Armenia.

During the September 19 release of the political talk show Время покажет (“Vremya pokazhet”) of the Russian State First Channel, referring to the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Armenia, the presenter and the guests claimed that the Armenian-Azerbaijani military clashes did not take place in Armenia but in Nagorno Karabakh.

During the program, the part of Pelosi’s speech in the RA NA was presented where the high-ranking American official criticizes the attack of Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of RA on September 13 calling it “deadly” and “illegal”.

“We strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s deadly strikes and attacks against Armenia on behalf of the US Congress. The USA, as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, has clearly and has long stated that there can be no military solution to the conflict. We continue to watch the situation closely and we continue supporting a negotiated, comprehensive and sustainable solution to all issues relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Pelosi said.

TV presenter Anatoly Kuzichev draws attention to the aforementioned qualifications by Pelosi during the program and claims that they are “incorrect” and “exaggerated.”

“I want to draw your attention to the following, she said, “Azerbaijan’s attack is a “deadly” and “illegal” attack on the sovereign territory of Armenia.” I think that this is not formally correct, as I understand it, we are talking about the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh or Artsakh, aren’t we, Vlad?“ said the host, addressing and passing the floor to one of the talk show guests, Vladislav Shurigin, a military expert.

The latter, in turn, also repeated that the recent clashes of Armenian-Azerbaijani forces took place in Nagorno-Karabakh. “It is obvious that the clash that took place in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh still needs to be studied for a long time in terms of who attacked first and why.”

A few minutes later, Anatoly Kuzichev repeated the mistake, stating that the CSTO monitoring headquarters had left for Artsakh.

Later, one of the guests, Dmitry Abzalov, corrected the mistake of the presenter and the guests, noting that the clashes took place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, not in Artsakh.

In the morning of September 13, 2022, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia using large-caliber weapons, artillery, missile systems, and drones.

The number of people killed and missing as a result of the aggression reaches 207, including 3 civilians killed, the location of 2 civilians is considered unknown, 293 servicemen, 7 civilians injured, 20 servicemen captured.

According to the statement adopted by the RA Security Council at the session held on September 19, 36 settlements were targeted by the Azerbaijani armed forces, including Goris, Sisian, Kapan, Jermuk, Vardenis, Tegh, Geghamasar communities, as a result of which 192 houses, 3 hotels, 2 schools, 1 medical facility, 1 banquet hall, 4 barns were partially or completely destroyed. 7 electrical infrastructures, 5 water infrastructures, 3 gas pipelines, 1 bridge, 2 highways, 1 street were damaged. 2 ambulances, 4 private cars were targeted.

Thus, the claim made on the air of the Russian state “First channel” that the recebt Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes took place in the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, is false. On September 13, Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of RA.

The program in question has so far only aired on television. We will post a link to it in our publication as soon as it is online.

Nane Manasyan