There are no Russians between the Armenian and Azerbaijani military positions. False claim by Wargonzo

The Wargonzo Telegram channel referred to the statement of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan about the Russian military base in Armenia, making a number of false claims.

It should be reminded that in an interview with the American Wall Street Journal, Pashinyan noted that he “does not see any advantages in the presence of the Russian military base in the Republic of Armenia”.

Wargonzo claimed that after the 44-day war in 2020, Russian peacekeepers are standing at the new border with Azerbaijan, “dividing the Armenian and Azerbaijani positions“.

“Armenia controls only the border with Georgia and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan with its own forces,” the Telegram channel says.

After the war in 2020, several bases of the Russian military have appeared in different sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, but none of them is located between Armenian and Azerbaijani military positions.

Thus, the satellite photos show that in the eastern section of the border, in Tavush, the base of the Russian border guards is not located between the Armenian and Azerbaijani positions, but, rather, to the west of the Armenian positions (deep into the Armenian territory).

In the southeastern section of the border, in Syunik, there is also a base of Russian border guard troops, but it is also not located between the positions but about 5 km to the west of Nerkin Hand village (that is, again into within the Armenian territory).

In March 2022, Defense Minister of Armenia Suren Papikyan announced about the Russian base near Nerkin Hand in the National Assembly, noting that it is located at the intersection of roads leading to a number of settlements.

It is noteworthy that, especially after the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war, the Azerbaijani servicemen who invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia encountered not the Russian military, but the servicemen of the Armenian army. Only the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia were involved in the battles against the Azerbaijanis, without the involvement of the forces of a third country, in this case Russian forces.

Thus, Wargonzo is providing false information: there are no bases of Russian troops between Armenian and Azerbaijani military positions, and only Armenian units are resisting Azerbaijani provocations against the borders of Armenia. Therefore, the border with Azerbaijan is protected not by the Russian military, but exclusively by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

Nane Manasyan