The Fight For Nagorno-Karabakh: Documenting Losses on The Sides Of Armenia and Azerbaijan

By Stijn Mitzer in collaboration with Jakub Janovsky

Armed clashes which commenced early in the morning of the 27th of September 2020 over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh have so far caused considerable human and materiel losses on both sides. The renewed clashes are an extension of the three decades long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and at present the short-term implications can only be guessed at. While solid information regarding materiel losses is scarce, rumours fly wildly – and unconfirmed and false reports are readily repeated for propaganda purposes. This article will attempt to break down all confirmed material losses by carefully studying the footage made available by both warring parties.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnical and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, which are controlled by the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, but are internationally recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan. The status of Nagorno-Karabakh has been disputed since 1918, when Armenia and Azerbaijan declared independence from the Russian Empire. In the early 1920s, the predominantly Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1988, the regional legislature in Nagorno-Karabakh voted in favour of joining the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, a move that found little support in Moscow.Following the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan took over control of large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, home to a significant Azerbaijani minority, as well as seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts.In the ensuining fighting, an estimated 25.000 to 30.000 people were killed with many more displaced from their homeland. The seperatists declared independence as the the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. In February 2017, the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic officially became the Republic of Artsakh.

Despite a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement in place since 1994, violations of the ceasefire occur at regular intervals, the most significant of which took place in 2016 and July 2020, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers and civilians. From July to September 2020, Azerbaijan conducted a series of military exercises with the participation of Turkey's ground and air forces, which likely strengthened Azerbaijan's perceived power and resolve to end the Karabakh conflict in its favour.

In addition to providing military training and equipment to Azerbaijan's military, Turkey has also begun exporting drones (and likely electronic warfare equipment) to Azerbaijan. [1] Dozens of Armenian soldiers awoke to this new reality this morning when Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs started releasing MAM-L Smart Munitions over Armenian positions, striking at least six 9K33 Osa and three 9K35 Strela-10 mobile surface-to-air missile systems. These systems appeared just as unaware and incapable of tackling the drone threat overhead as the Russian Pantsir-S1s in Syria and Libya, and all were destroyed without ever knowing what hit them. Turkey's highly efficient use of drones and supporting electronics warfare systems has boosted its increasingly assertive international role and growing political and military weight (Bayraktar Diplomacy). It has now reached the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and will certainly influence the outcome of the current round of fighting.

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles of both sides can be seen below. This list will be updated as additional footage becomes available.

This list only includes captured vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is undoubtedly higher than recorded here.

In an effort to streamline the list and avoid unnecessary confusion, losses on the side of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh are listed together.  

 
(Click on the numbers to get a picture of each individual captured or destroyed vehicle)

Armenia / Republic of Artsakh

Tanks (7, of which destroyed or abandoned: 5)

• 3 T-72A: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, damaged)
  
• 4 Unknown T-72: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, abandoned)(4, damaged)
  

Infantry fighting vehicles (5, of which destroyed or abandoned: 5)

• 1 BMP-1: (1, destroyed) 
  
• 4 BMP-2: (1, abandoned)(2, abandoned)(3, abandoned)(4, abandoned) 

Surface-to-air missile systems (9, of which destroyed: 9)

• 3 9K35 Strela-10: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)
  
• 6 9K33 Osa: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, destroyed)(5, destroyed)(6, destroyed)
  

Trucks (7, of which destroyed or abandoned: 7)

• 1 GAZ-452: (1, damaged and abandoned)
• 3 Ural-4320: (1, destroyed)(2, abandoned)(3, abandoned)
• 2 Ural-43206: (1, damaged and abandoned)(2, damaged and abandoned)
• 1 Unknown truck: (1, destroyed) 
  

Strategic locations hit (2)

• military base: (1)
• munitions stockpile: (1)

Azerbaijan

Tanks (5, of which destroyed or abandoned: 1)

• 1 T-72A: (1, damaged)
• 4 T-72AV/T-72 ''Aslan'': (1, destroyed)(2, damaged)(3, damaged)(4, damaged)
  

Infantry fighting vehicles (6, of which destroyed or abandoned: 5)

• 5 BMP-2: (1, destroyed)(2, destroyed)(3, destroyed)(4, damaged and abandoned)(5, damaged and abandoned)
  
• 1 BTR-82A: (1, damaged) 
  

Engineering equipment (1, of which destroyed or abandoned: 0)

•   1 IMR-2: (1, damaged)

Helicopers (1, of which destroyed or abandoned: 1)

•   1 Mi-8/17: (1, destroyed)

[1] Azerbaijan buys the deadly Turkish Bayraktar TB2 mid-range strike UAV https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2020/06/27/azerbaijan-buys-the-deadly-turkish-bayraktar-tb2-mid-range-strike-uav/

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