Azerbaijan destroyed monument to WWII heroes  in Artsakh village of  Khnatsakh

ArmInfo.Azerbaijan has resettled the occupied village of Khnatsakh in the Republic of Artsakh and has disseminated photographs confirming the "return" of  Azerbaijanis to the village, as reported by monumentwatch.org, a website that monitors Artsakh's cultural heritage.

According to the source, satellite images show that, in July 2025,  the Azerbaijani side destroyed monuments honoring the heroes of the  Great Patriotic War and the Artsakh wars, as well as the graves of  the village defenders during the First Artsakh War, located within  the memorial. In addition to demolishing the monument, extensive  excavation work was  carried out, evident when comparing satellite  images from 2023. At the site of the destroyed memorial, a sign with  a fictitious Azerbaijani name for the village (Xanyurdu kindi) was  placed.

 "The destruction of monuments dedicated to the Great Patriotic War  and the Artsakh Liberation Struggle violates Article 4 of the 1954  Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event  of Armed Conflict and its Second Protocol from 1999.

It also violates the binding decisions of the International Court of  Justice dated December 7, 2021.  According to these decisions,  Azerbaijan is obligated to take all necessary measures to prevent and  punish acts of vandalism and desecration against Armenian cultural  heritage, not limited to churches and other places of worship,  monuments, landmarks, cemeteries, and artifacts. The destruction of  the monument also violates international humanitarian law. It is  particularly important to emphasize that the International Court of  Justice has confirmed that provisions for the protection of cultural  property have the status of customary international law, meaning they  are universal and binding on all states," the statement reads.