The Azerbaijani military told for the first time that during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020, they managed to intercept two multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) "Smerch" with the help of the anti-aircraft jet complex (SAM) "Buk". The Telegram channel "Military Observer" drew attention to the corresponding video that appeared on the network.
The Buk was used by Azerbaijan to intercept Smerch shells belonging to the Armed Forces of Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). It is not specified when exactly the SAM was used. At the same time, his work on the goal was shown on video.
In April, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev opened a Military Trophy Park in Baku and showed, presumably, fragments of missiles found on the territory of the country from Russian-made Iskander tactical missile systems (OTRCS). At the same time, he noted that the Armenian army should not have had these missiles. The Kremlin had previously noted that they had no information about the use of Iskanders in Karabakh.
In 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mainly by Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan, which it was part of during Soviet times. The war began. In 1994, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) signed a truce.
On September 27, 2020, fighting resumed on the demarcation line between Azerbaijan and the NKR. They continued until November 10, when Baku, Yerevan and Moscow adopted a joint ceasefire statement. As a result of the conflict, Azerbaijan regained a number of territories lost in the early 1990s.
Varvara Koshechkina
