Artsakh Minister of Defense and Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army Mikael Arzumanyan issued the following statement today.

Dear compatriots,

From September 27 to November 9, our people had to face the joint aggression of the terrorist groups of Azerbaijan, Turkey and their sponsors.

During 44 days of extremely heavy fighting, Armenian fighter performed unparalleled feats, which, unfortunately, were not enough to end the war the way we would have liked.

There were many objective and subjective reasons for what happened, which will be analyzed, and all necessary honest and rigorous investigations will be carried out.

However, today we have what we have. We should not consider the starting point for our further activity our dreams, but the realities. Dreams can be a goal, which we must achieve through unified hard work.

To achieve these goals, more than ever, we all need unity, state thinking, a sense of personal responsibility. We all need the will and determination to put an end to the baseless rumors, myths, various fabrications that have nothing to do with reality.

The reality is that Artsakh will exist. The main guarantor of Artsakh's security, the Defense Army, withdrew from the war with heavy blows, but more than united, disciplined, ready to continue fulfilling its mission of defending the homeland.

The army has maintained its solid structure, system of government, and a military hierarchy based on the principle of a unitary command. All the changes that will take place in the near future will be aimed not at dismantling the army, but at improving the army and quality.

The baseless rumors are not true, especially about the soldiers-officers who are currently serving in the combat positions. The vision of the army commands, units, military units, commanders of different subdivisions, officers, contract and conscripts is one: to ensure the defense of our country, to ensure the right of our people to live in their homeland.

Many of our comrades-in-arms and sisters have dedicated their lives to the realization of that ultimate goal, and I am confident that we will be able to be worthy of their sacrifice.