Armenian militia who came from all over the world to participate in the Karabakh conflict began to publish their notes about the war. Militia talk about supply problems in Nagorno-Karabakh, neglect on the part of the command, lack of technical means, incoordination between units, and other problems of trench life. According to the participants in the conflict, many units were not even half staffed, which in many respects was the reason for the victories of the Azerbaijani troops. The volunteers shared their memories on the Web.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh , which lasted from September 27 to November 19 , ended with the signing of peace agreements and de facto the defeat of the Armenian troops . On the side of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, detachments of militias from among the representatives of the Armenian diaspora around the world took part in the hostilities. It is known that Armenians from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, France, and, of course, from Russia, acted aggressively in the conflict.
After the end of hostilities and the introduction of the Russian peacekeeping contingent into the region, the militia began to leave Transcaucasia. Some of them share their impressions of their participation in the conflict online. According to a number of sources, the Armenian militias did not receive warm uniforms, shoes, and equipment. This was reported by a number of media outlets during the conflict. This information was confirmed by one of the Armenian militia who published their notes on the Lost Armour forum under the nickname Andrewbek1974 .
According to him, the militants who arrived from Moscow were denied equipment on the pretext that “you have your own”. The author notes that there was no uniform standard of equipment in the militia detachments; the soldiers took out body armor themselves. The situation was even worse with small arms.
“They gave out old PKM, PM, and AK-74 (Kalashnikov machine gun, Makarov pistol, and Kalashnikov machine) from the weapon. There was no shortage of ammunition. Except for the pistol, which had 1 magazine.
The PKM was well maintained, despite its age in very good condition. AK-74 (obscene, bad). We tried to change it – (obscene, no). Issued – use it. Why it was impossible to change, although there were extra barrels in the company – it is not clear “, – writes the militant.
According to Andrewbek1974, the volunteers arriving from abroad were largely on their own. After crossing the border between Georgia and Armenia, the volunteers were settled on the outskirts of Yerevan, after which they were forgotten. “This is, in particular, about the attitude of the locals towards unorganized and non-publicized volunteers,” the author notes.
After arriving in Karabakh, the volunteers were sent to the militia company, which held the defenses east of the city of Shushi. Of the 122 fighters in the company, de facto there were no more than 50-60 people, mostly local residents. The author notes that most of the fighters were local residents who did not spend the night in their positions.
“De jure, this type of company was commanded by a man with a typical Armenian name Hamlet. According to him, in the rank of ” major” of the Artsakh militant infantry, there was no evidence of this rank in fact. The “major” was clearly with a criminal past , and possibly a present … commanded by a local uncle named Ashot, born in 1969, who served in the Soviet military command, somewhere in the Far East. A veteran of the first war, “- says Andrewbek1974
As the author notes, the militias occupied the old defensive lines dug back in the first Karabakh conflict. The company had no means of communication, the only radios were delivered by militia volunteers from Moscow . Inconsistency of actions and lack of combat experience led to curious cases – a herd of pigs (Azeri) became the first opponents of the militia .
“On October 23, the first emergency happened at night. The valiant night patrol opened fire in the morning. All the others followed. In total, 20 minutes of heavy shooting. The attack of the insidious Azeri was repulsed. In the morning, two killed pigs were found,” the author notes.
Andrewbek1974 writes that all these problems were partly the reason for the military defeat of the Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and promises to publish new details about the problems at the front in the near future.
To remind, after the signing of the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan , concluded with the mediation of Russia, protest actions began in Yerevan. A number of opposition politicians accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of refusing to accept units of militia volunteers from abroad and preventing them from being sent to the front.
