Our soldiers lead heroic battle for every inch of land - Arayik Harutyunyan

The president of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has praised the Defense Army's heroism and dedication to the country's defense in the face of the Azerbaijani aggression.

In a public post on Facebook, Arayik Harutyunyan said the heated and heavy battles are still going on along the entire Line of Contact. "The Defense Army is inflicting new and painful losses upon the enemy, whose purpose of attack is clear to the world," he said, adding that Armenian defense troops continue struggling for every single inch of land.

"The terrorist group calling itself the politico-military leadership of Baku - and Turkey, which openly offers support to them - try, in every possible way, to invade the Republic of Artsakh to occupy it entirely and physically annihilate the Armenian people.

"I am sure there is no single living being in the world, who hasn't ultimately ascertained this truth. The power capable of curbing this anti-human atrocity is our army, whose feats on the battlefield make our enemy reconcile with the crushing defeat of the legend which they themselves invented.

"Our soldiers lead a heroic battle for every inch of our land. All our compatriots - in Artsakh, the Motherland and the Diaspora - stand out with their dedication. Even at these triumphant moments, we must not relax vigilance; we must move on with sobriety and a clear mind, pursuing our aspirations.

"I am confident that this battle for freedom will be worthily evaluated by all the future generations of our nation. I give you my assurances that we together will do all our best to realize our national ideals and goals.

"With our united feat, we prove yet again that our freedom and independence are not subject to  bargaining. We stated yet another time that Artsakh is forever.

"Long live our Army!

Long Live our people!

Long live our national unity!" the president wrote.

Azerbaijan launched large-scale offensives along the Line of Contact on September 27, targeting also civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh. As of Wednesday morning (October 7), the Artsakh defense forces were reported to have shot down 16 war helicopters, 17 warplanes, 126 UAVs, 379 units of armored vehicles (mainly tanks), 82 transport vehicles, 10 armored personnel carriers and multiple rocket launchers (one unit of TOS-1A, four units of BM-30 Smerch and one unit of BM-27 Uragan).

Azerbaijan has lost over 3,454 troops. Armenia has officially reported 291 deaths. 

Azerbaijan's armed forces targeted also civilian objects and military objectives on the territory of Armenia. Two civilians were fatally shot in the Gegharkunik region. An estimated 80 civilians were wounded and some 19 were killed in Nagorno-Karabakh. Physical damage was caused to 2,700 units of property and infrastructures. 

The Azerbaijani strikes left also journalists (representing both the local and international media) wounded. Armenia and Artsakh have declared martial law and a general mobilization.