Nagorno – Karabakh | The latest developments in the city of Shusha – The battles continue – VIDEO

Defence Redefined

Published on 09/11/2020 at 14:05

Fierce and deadly fighting has taken place in the strategically important city of Shusha, in the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh, over the past two days, between the Armenian Defence Forces of Artsakh, the forces of Azerbaijan and the Syrian-backed forces.  

Since last Thursday, Azerbaijani infantry forces, under cover of heavy artillery and UCAV drone strikes, have occupied several heights southeast of Shusha and managed to maintain fire control on the road connecting the city to the Lachin area, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. 

At the same time, Armenian forces repulsed several Azerbaijani attacks on the city, inflicting heavy casualties on Baku forces, at least according to the Armenian Ministry of Defence. This contradicts the claims of Azerbaijan which claims that its forces have already occupied the city.

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The statement of the President of Azerbaijan that the city has fallen after fighting with the Azeri forces caused confusion, after the Armenian Ministry of Defence announced that the city is still in the hands of Armenians.

War correspondent for the online channel War Gonzo, Semyon Pegov, said: 

“Fighters of the Artsakh Defence Army are definitely in Shusha. 

There is fighting in Shusha. There are battles on the outskirts. Tough battles. Combat involves both sides. Azerbaijani Armed Forces are attacking and trying to break through. The soldiers of the Defence Army repulse these attacks every minute (without exaggeration). Everything is fair. 

Did the Azeri military enter the city? Of course they did. To the outskirts. Then they left. Have they tried to enter again? They tried. They are trying. Did they take control of the city and hang flags over the mosque/fortress? Definitely not. All these photos/videos were fakes, which the Azerbaijani telegram channels themselves recognized.

Of course, the battle for Shusha is the main event of this war. Aliyev spares no effort, no people and throws them into the meat grinder of the Artsakh Defence Army artillery. For this, he exposed the Martuni front (the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are retreating there) and Nakhichevan – having transferred the elite special forces from there to the assault on Susha. The status of these special forces at the moment is doubtful.

Aliyev goes all in. In Stepanakert they understand this and are not going to give up. The fate of this war will be decided soon.”

Video from War Gonzo near the city of Shusha

According to the Southfront, the city is still under the control of the Artsakh Defence Forces, however several areas of Shusha were occupied by the Azerbaijani army. 

Also read: Nagorno-Karabakh | US-brokered ceasefire collapses shortly after it’s put in force

The situation in the cities of Martuni, Martakert and Lachin is much better for Armenians. The trend of conflict tends to be reversed, due to the inability of Baku and Azerbaijan to inflict a devastating blow on the Armenians in this region. However, control of these areas will not help the Armenians if the siege of the city of Shusha continues.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Azerbaijan are protesting that Armenia continues to receive aid – military equipment and possible intelligence – in the conflict. The Armenians, based on this dissatisfaction of Turkey and Azerbaijan, assume that the airspace over Nagorno-Karabakh will soon be closed by Russia and the Azeris will have to retreat, despite the harsh winter. Nevertheless, the chances of immediate Russian intervention in the current regional situation remain quite limited. 

However, it is predicted that if Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to exploit the Syrian fighters extensively in the conflict, a strategy that Ankara has already tried in Syria and Libya, the scale of indirect Russian support for the Armenians will increase. 

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Already, the current limited Russian support has created difficulties in advancing Azerbaijan-Turkey. The conflict has now reached a critical juncture. The Azeris may not have been able to capture the city of Shusha so far, but for the past 3 days the supply route of the Archah defence forces has been cut off, as it is within range of the Azeris. 

Soon, the first shortages of personnel, ammunition and fuel will begin to appear. If in the short term, the Armenians fail to secure the passage and break the siege, then most likely the entire enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh will fall under the control of Azerbaijan. 

On the other hand, the situation is a road race for the Azeris who, due to the winter, may lose air support. Many offensive operations have already failed, resulting in the loss of large numbers of soldiers and equipment. It is also estimated that over time dissatisfaction will increase, as Baku, since September 27, has created the expectation that the occupation of the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region is a matter of days. 

Armenia today announced the death of another 44 soldiers, bringing the death toll to 1,221 as of September 27th. On its part, Azerbaijan has not announced the number of dead soldiers since the beginning of the war. 

The DEFENCE ReDEFiNED team monitors the events daily and brings you the news with full responsibility and objectivity. 

Also read: Nagorno-Karabakh | Armenian defence in unfavourable position – Developments on the battlefield

With information from: SouthFront / Nagorno-Karabakh Observer