RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in the regular session of the CIS Heads of State Council in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. In his speech he noted:

“The number of victims and missing as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression has now exceeded 210, of which 3 civilians were killed and 2 are missing. 293 servicemen and 8 civilians were injured. The number of missing soldiers is 28. The Azerbaijani side itself distributed shocking videos of torture, mutilation of the bodies of captured persons or already dead soldiers, numerous cases of brutal reprisals and cruel treatment of Armenian prisoners of war, murders, as well as humiliating treatment of the bodies of the dead. The bodies of Armenian female servicemen were mutilated with particular brutality, and then “proudly” filmed by Azerbaijani soldiers. Videos of these apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity are being shared and praised by a number of Azerbaijani social media users.

Undoubtedly, the implementation of such indescribable atrocities is a direct consequence of the long-term policy of instilling Armenian hatred and enmity in the Azerbaijani society by the political leadership.

After this attack, the rhetoric of official Baku and other Azerbaijani sources shows that Azerbaijan has intentions to occupy more territories of Armenia, which must be prevented.

I would like to emphasize that the risk of new aggression by Azerbaijan remains very high, especially considering that Azerbaijan continues to consistently violate the ceasefire regime, trying to attribute its provocative actions to the Armenian side. Another factor of further escalation may be the inadequate response of the regional security organizations to the created situation, which has caused very serious questions in Armenian society.”