The prosecutor, with an approved indictment, has submitted to the court another criminal proceeding regarding the commanders of the military unit and battalions related to the 44-day war.

The criminal proceedings investigated by the Investigative Committee revealed that the commander of military unit N, Colonel A.O., between October 6 and 7, 2020, performed his official duties improperly and negligently causing serious consequences.

In particular, on October 6, 2020, after receiving an order from the commander of the Defense Army to launch an offensive in the direction of the western edge of Horadiz—toward Mount Lyalya-Ilyagi—and to restore the breached line of defense, A.O. failed to comply with the requirements of legal acts regulating military service during the preparatory activities carried out on the same day and during the counteroffensive that took place on October 7, 2020.

Due to A.O.’s improper execution of combat operations procedures and poor leadership, the units under his command reached the designated starting positions and moved toward the mission site with significantly fewer military equipment and personnel than prescribed by the order, at both the scheduled time and in insufficient numbers, thereby failing to accomplish the assigned combat mission.

The same proceedings revealed that the commander of the N military unit’s battalion, Lieutenant Colonel G.A., whose battalion personnel were involved in the counteroffensive carried out by the unit’s forces on October 7, 2020, was obliged, along with his unit and among other directions, to launch an attack toward the western edge of Horadiz—Mount Lyalya-Ilyagi. However, under the pretext of accounting for losses of weapons and ammunition, and with the intention of avoiding active participation in combat operations, he refused to continue carrying out the combat mission.

G.A. ordered the battalion personnel to deviate from the designated route and refused proposals to establish communication with the higher command. Subsequently, without the permission of the senior officer, he commanded the entire battalion personnel to turn back and return, thereby not continuing the counteroffensive.

The same proceedings revealed that the commander of the N military unit’s battalion, Lieutenant Colonel G.M., whose battalion personnel were involved in the counteroffensive carried out by the unit’s forces on October 7, 2020, was obliged, along with his unit and among other directions, to launch an attack toward the western edge of Horadiz—Mount Lyalya-Ilyagi. However he took no measures to restore disrupted command and coordinate the further actions of his subordinate personnel, actually refusing to continue carrying out the combat mission.

The prosecutor has initiated public criminal prosecution against A.O. under part 3 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003 (negligence during martial law), and against G.A. and G.M. under part 3 of Article 364 (refusal to perform military service duties during martial law).

The prosecutor has approved the indictment and submitted the case materials to the competent court.

Notice:  A person charged with any crime shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty in the manner prescribed by the RA Criminal Procedure Code—by the judgment came into legal force.