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 twelfth day of the war, October 8, Armenia's occupying forces fired at the front-line and remote settlements of Azerbaijan all night from the occupied territories. Also, they started to use unmanned aerial vehicles to attack the Azerbaijani population outside the combat zone. In the village of Shahmemmedli of the Goranboy region, a civilian was killed, two women were wounded in the village of Alibeyli.
After 9:00, one of the shells fired at the city of Barda hit the school, injuring seven people. By noon, Armenia's Grad missile launcher which attacked Barda was destroyed. Banned cluster shells were found in the Goranboy region of Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Liberation Army continued its counteroffensive in the northern and southern parts of the occupation zone, eliminating the military infrastructure of the occupiers, as well as military columns. The retreating invaders were leaving even their tanks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained why Yerevan accuses Turkey of involvement in the Karabakh conflict.
At about 11:00, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dismissed the head of the Armenian National Security Service. Pashinyan also said that one of the residents of the occupied Armenian Armed Forces of Khankendi urged the invaders to lay down their arms.
An Orthodox divine service was held at the Baku's Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral in the name of peace to be established throughout entire Azerbaijan. Famous researcher of Middle East history Philip Ekozyants called on Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora not to lie about the Karabakh conflict. The Kremlin reported that a summit of the heads of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia is not being discussed yet.
Negotiations between the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister began in Geneva at about 14:00. Meanwhile, Pashinyan announced that he was sending his son to the front.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied accusations of shelling of historical and cultural monuments in the combat zone, and also stressed that the ultimate goal of the counter-offensive operation is the de-occupation of Azerbaijani land. The news about the deployment of Turkish F-16s in Ganja was proved to be fake.
After 17:00, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the preparation of a meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. Austria, in turn, offered Baku and Yerevan to hold a summit in Vienna. After 18:00, negotiations were held between the heads of the governments of Russia and Azerbaijan. A collective prayer was held in Israel for the liberation of the territories of Azerbaijan.
In the evening, a report by the Vestnik Kavkaza correspondent on the state of the cities of Azerbaijan, which are under the daily shelling of Armenian troops, was published. The rating agency Moody's warned about the risks of continuing the battles for Armenia's ratings. The day ended with the official invitation of President Vladimir Putin to the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia to Moscow for negotiations.
Thus, on the twelfth day of the war, the Azerbaijani army continued its counteroffensive in the north and south of the occupation zone, preparing for the liberation of the city of Fizuli and the village of Hadrut, and consistently eliminated the military equipment of the invaders. To compensate for this, Armenia stepped up terrorist attacks on the settlements of Azerbaijan, including with prohibited shells, killing civilians. Russia was actively involved in the diplomatic process of ending the war by organizing the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia in Moscow.
