Seven Fridays  a week: Now Azerbaijan declares the use of " Iskander  "near Shushi

ArmInfo.The situation with the use or non-use of the Iskander missile defense system during the hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone initiated by  Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey is taking a new turn.

Azerbaijan, which previously stated that the complexes were not used,  now claims the opposite.  Thus, the Azerbaijani media, citing a  representative of the Agency for Mine Clearance (ANAMA), report that  fragments of missiles were found near Shushi, presumably belonging to  the Iskander complexes.  "Since December 2020, ANAMA has been  conducting mine clearance and ammunition disposal operations near  Shushi. On March 15, 2021, during a clean-up operation conducted by  Agency employees, the wreckage of two exploding rockets was found in  the city. The geographical coordinates of the missile debris are as  follows: 39±45 '38.10" N 46±44'33.90" E and 39±45'27.80" N  46±45'25.8" E. During the inspection by the Agency's specialists of  the identification number (9M723) of the missile, it was found that  its fragments belong to the Iskander missile system. Even when  searching in open Internet resources, you can determine that the  identification number 9M723 belongs to the Iskander rocket. All this  confirms that during the war, Armenia used Iskander missiles against  Azerbaijan, " the ANAMA representative said.  It should be noted that  this directly contradicts the statement of Azerbaijani President  Ilham Aliyev made at a press conference for foreign and local media  on February 26. Then he said that Azerbaijan had not recorded the use  of Russian Iskander missile systems by Armenia during the conflict in  Nagorno-Karabakh.  The reason for this statement of Aliyev was the  statements made by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in  February of this year in one of his interviews. Then he said that  during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, "Iskander missiles did not  explode or exploded only by 10%." This statement caused a wide  international response, and the Russian side sharply criticized the  Armenian prime Minister, accusing him of incompetence.

The Russian Defense Ministry also responded to this statement. The  Russian Defense Ministry assured that Armenia did not use Iskander  operational-tactical complexes in the conflict in  Nagorno-Karabakh."According to the objective and reliable information  available to us, confirmed by the objective control system, none of  the missile systems of this type was used during the conflict in  Nagorno-Karabakh. All missile ammunition is stored in the warehouses  of the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia," the Russian Defense  Ministry said, suggesting that, apparently, Pashinyan "was misled, as  a result of which he used inaccurate information."

"Iskander-M" was developed in the Kolomna Design Bureau of Mechanical  Engineering (holding "High-precision Complexes"). In the version for  the Russian army, the complex includes two types of missiles:   ballistic and cruise. The range of the Iskander-M missiles was  officially called - up to 500 km. It was reported that the missiles  rof the complex can carry a nuclear warhead. The complex is in  service with the missile brigades of the Russian Ground Forces.   Armenia received the complexes as part of a defense loan provided by  Moscow to Yerevan.