Evidence of Armenia's military meeting in school during 44-day war presented in Baku court

At the ongoing trial in the Baku Military Court, the accused Levon Mnatsakanyan stated that in 2020, during the 44-day Patriotic War, he was engaged in several directions at the request of the "president" of the self-proclaimed regime, Arayik Harutyunyan, Report informs.

He stated that at that time, he did not hold any position and was retired. Harutyunyan contacted him twice - on October 14 and on November 3 or 4 (he doesn't remember the exact date - ed.), asking for help for local "authorities" on security issues, civil defense, and to check the state of artillery.

Mnatsakanyan, in turn, was in the direction of Hadrut, Sugovushan, and others at his request. The following evidence was then examined at the hearing. Video footage taken during the 44-day war shows a military meeting being held in a classroom of a school in Shushakand. Levon Mnatsakanyan is also visible in the video footage. The meeting is being held by Samvel Babayan (former "defense minister" of the self-proclaimed regime, former "secretary of the security council" - ed.).

The video footage discusses the attack on Azerbaijani servicemen. Samvel Babayan states: "There is a mined area on the map, do not pass through this mined area." Then he says: "From the shelter to the church, there are about 1-1.5 kilometers. From there, there is a road through the "quarry". This road must be closed. So, the task is to encircle the enemy in Shusha. Our actions tomorrow will decide the fate of all of Karabakh. The fate of Karabakh depends on our actions tomorrow. The fate of Karabakh depends. Do you understand what I'm saying...

...Whoever receives a task, that person should carry it out. That is, we must close the enemy's rear road, his exit. We must quickly take the positions we need. At 6 am we are there. No one should be late. We sit for one hour, observe, and watch. At 7 am, the offensive already begins. The artillery works for about 15 minutes. Because we will go on the offensive. Have we understood each other, will we be able to find each other? Have we given each other all our phones?"

After studying the footage, Levon Mnatsakanyan claimed that he didn't participate in the discussions at the meeting, and stated that the offensive planned for the next day didn't take place.