Exactly a year ago, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan's Patriotic War began. On that day, Armenia's occupying forces subjected the positions of the armed forces of Azerbaijan along the front line and the adjacent populated areas in Azerbaijan to intensive fire with the use of large-calibre weapons, artillery and mortars. Baku decided to launch a counter-offensive operation to ensure the safety of the civilian population. Vestnik Kavkaza offers its readers to follow the events of the 44 days of Azerbaijan's Patriotic War as they were covered a year ago.
On the night of the war's eleventh day, October 7, video footage of the destruction in Terter due to daily shelling by the occupying forces of the Armenian Armed Forces was published. At the same time, evidence of the use of prohibited cluster bombs against peaceful villages in the Goranboy region of Azerbaijan was demonstrated, later the details of this war crime were announced by ANAMA. The mayor of the Armenian city of Meghri, located on the border with Iran, was wounded at the front.
In the early morning, the liberation army of Azerbaijan continued an active counteroffensive in the south, liberating the territories of the Jebrail region and preparing for the liberation of Fizuli. There was video footage of the liberated village of Shukurbeyli. Speaking to the BBC, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that occupied Karabakh is "Armenia, the land of Armenians."
After 10:00, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his birthday and discuss the situation at the front. During the conversation, Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that the battles are not being fought on the territory of Armenia. Two hours later, the Kremlin emphasized that the hostilities were within the borders of Azerbaijan’s territory.
Shortly before 12:00 it became known that Armenian artillery was firing at its own tank columns. Soon after noon, the village of Sheybei in the Jebrail region of Azerbaijan was liberated. Afghan diplomacy once again demanded the withdrawal of the occupation troops from the Azerbaijani territories.
In the afternoon, Ilham Aliyev's interview to Channel One was published. The NSS of Armenia urged the invaders not to talk on the phone in the combat zone. At about 18:00, Pashinyan called Putin again. It became known that a number of countries have introduced an arms embargo against Azerbaijan.
By the war's eleventh day, the occupying troops of Armenia began to abandon military equipment more often when retreating. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry announced a meeting of the minister with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Geneva and condemned Yerevan's attempts to set foreign journalists under fire. A meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and Armenia in Moscow was also announced.
By the evening, the number of liquidated tanks of the occupation forces of Armenia reached 250 units, destroyed artillery installations - 270 units. Ilham Aliyev stressed that the ceasefire must be bilateral. An unmanned aerial vehicle of the Armenian Armed Forces flew into the Aghstafa region of Azerbaijan and was shot down. The Armenian Defense Ministry started talking about the justification of the retreat in the occupation zone.
Late in the evening, the Russian Defense Minister held talks with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts. The Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan assured that Yerevan's attempts to damage the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline are doomed to failure.
Thus, on the eleventh day of the war, liberation operations continued in the south of the occupation zone: the invaders were dislodging from their combat positions in the Jebrail region, preparations were underway for the liberation of Fizuli. The number of diplomatic contacts between warring parties and foreign intermediaries has increased. That was the first quarter of Azerbaijan's Patriotic War.
