I do not agree with the charges; they are even ridiculous. Lieutenant Colonel Arsen Ghazaryan, who is charged with Azerbaijan’s capturing—in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)—62 soldiers from Shirak Province of Armenia, said this at a press conference Monday.
"The personnel, the servicemen, the unit consisting of reservists, who walked with me on the battlefield during the [44-day Artsakh] war [last fall], have unconditionally fulfilled the tasks given by the superior. Everyone knows me, and knows that I am not an officer who leaves the soldiers alone on the battlefield," Ghazaryan noted.
He said that ever since December 9, Azerbaijan had deployed large numbers of troops in Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd villages of Artsakh, about which he had informed his superior command via mobile phone.
"On December 11, we received information that an open attack was carried out by the adversary on the left side of them. We had wounded, we tried to provide medical assistance to the wounded. As the place was high [elevation], it was not possible to climb by car; they climbed on foot. And after the December 11 attack, the left wing personnel and they were evacuated from Khtsaberd by their superior command and Russian by peacekeepers", he added.
Ghazaryan said that during the open attack on December 13, the Armenian side had two wounded, and its ammunition was run out.
"It was not even possible to keep that area. They were forces 15 times greater. We performed a tactical trick to evacuate the two wounded, to occupy more favorable positions, to contact the superior, to try to ask for help. [But] there was no help; we were left alone," Lieutenant Colonel Arsen Ghazaryan added.