Military experts treat Pashinyan's words on Iskander systems as a claim against Russia

The statement of the Armenian Prime Minister who claimed that Russian Iskander missile systems turned out to be combat-ineffective during the Karabakh war should be regarded as an unfounded claim against Russia, military experts note.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 23, while commenting on the Serzh Sargsyan's statement who noted there was a need to use missile systems in the first days of the autumn escalation of the Karabakh conflict, Nikol Pashinyan called the Iskander missile systems purchased from Russia combat-ineffective.

The Nikol Pashinyan's statement about the Iskander missile systems is a claim against the Russian side, but it is "absolutely unfounded," says Konstantin Sivkov, the deputy president of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences. "During the war, Azerbaijanis constantly reported which missiles the Armenian side used to bomb them. Baku never reported about any Iskander missile system used by Armenia. I doubt that the Iskander systems were ever used during the escalation of the Karabakh war. Taking all the above into account, I come to the conclusion that Mr Pashinyan has claims to Russia, but they are not supported by any specific facts and are unfounded," Konstantin Sivkov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Mikhail Khodaryonok, Reserve Colonel of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, an air defence systems specialist, believes that the Nikol Pashinyan's statement is a claim against the Russian side. "Before a political leader decides to make such a statement, he should back it up with certain statistics and report how many missiles have been launched, including the numbers of unsuccessful and successful launches. However, Mr Pashinyan has not delivered any statistical data," Mikhail Khodaryonok told the "Caucasian Knot".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 24, 2021 at 02:43 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.