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 fifth day of the war, October 1, the occupying forces tried to lead the columns of reservists to the front under cover of night, but they were destroyed from the air. The liberation Azerbaijani army's counter-offensive and the elimination of the military equipment of the invaders continued throughout the night.
By this time, 97 buildings, including houses and schools, were destroyed in Azerbaijan's Aghdam region by artillery shelling by the Armenian Armed Forces. In Terter, a civilian was killed under the same shelling, the total number of victims of Yerevan's aggression among the civilian population of Azerbaijan reached 16 people by the morning of the fifth day, at about 13:00 two more were killed in the village of Hajimamedli.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the Armenian invaders are fighting international terrorism in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The Armenian Ministry of Defense continued to circulate fake news about allegedly downed Azerbaijani planes and the use of Syrian mercenaries by Baku. Turkey, meanwhile, drew the attention of the Armenian authorities to the benefits for Yerevan from ending the occupation of Azerbaijani land.
The rear services of the Armenian occupation forces began to refuse to supply the front positions with ammunition, and the invaders on the battlefield had a shortage of weapons. Instead of logisticians, foreign journalists were sent closer to the front from the Armenian side in the hope that they would fall under bullets and die. The Armenian Armed Forces launched medium-range missiles from the Syunik region at the previously liberated Azerbaijani lands in the south, and after 13:00 the occupying forces of Armenia began shelling the Azerbaijani city of Horadiz.
At about 14:00, the Kremlin announced a joint statement by the presidents of Russia, the United States and France on the Karabakh war was being prepared. At the same time, the Armenian Defense Ministry's fake news appeared about the alleged firing by the Azerbaijani army against the civilian population of the occupied Hadrut and Khojavend. The statement by the three presidents was released at 15:00, Putin, Trump and Macron called on Yerevan and Baku to end hostilities. The Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers once again discussed the situation in the South Caucasus.
In the first five days of the war, Armenia's only appeal to the CSTO was a demand to deprive Afghanistan of the observer status at the Organization for supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The Armenian ambassador was recalled from Israel due to the use of Israeli weapons by Azerbaijan in the battles. By this time, the occupying forces had lost 200 tanks and 228 artillery installations at the front. At about 18:00, Horadiz was shelled again.
Iran reiterated that Azerbaijan's actions to liberate its land from the invaders are completely legitimate, a rally in support of the Azerbaijani army was held in Tabriz. Pakistan expressed its readiness to provide any assistance to Azerbaijan.
Thus, on the war's fifth day, the Azerbaijani army focused on depleting the fortified positions of the occupiers: supply columns with reservists and ammunition were eliminated, a shortage of weapons was created due to the massive destruction of military equipment. In response, Armenia continued its aggression against the Azerbaijani front-line cities and villages, gradually expanding the number of shelled settlements.
