Local media
Heights are liberated step by step - military expert (Report)
“After the Horadiz operation in early 1994, that is, over the past 26 years, our armed forces achieved success in the village of Jojug Marjanli, Talish, and Leletepe heights in 2016, in the village of Gunnut, Gizil Gaya, in the direction of Hunut heights in 2018, as well as towards Mount Babaker in 2019,” said military expert Adalat Verdiyev.
The military expert noted that one of the primary goals of the Azerbaijan Army’s counteroffensive operation was to dispel the myth of the invincibility of the Armenian army, which the Azerbaijani soldiers managed to do in a short time.
“However, some of us, who for one reason or another have never participated in the war, wait every day for our soldiers to liberate new cities and regions,” he added.
He emphasized that territories occupied in four years, where fortification work had been carried out for 24 years, cannot be liberated within 40 days.
Verdiyev also noted that climatic conditions resist the advancing Azerbaijani soldier no less than the enemy.
“The amount of precipitation in the mountains is approximately twice as much as in the plains. The temperature difference between day and night is about 20 degrees, changeable weather, and strong winds are observed. There is also a high risk of lightning strikes in the mountains. Keeping a direction, fighting, staying alive, and completing assigned tasks in an unfamiliar mountainous area in foggy conditions is not as easy as writing comments behind a monitor demanding the liberation of districts and cities,” he said.
“You should also take into account the steep mountain slopes in Nagorno-Karabakh at an altitude of over 2000 meters, a decrease in temperature by 0.6 degrees, atmospheric pressure by 10 millimeters of mercury, oxygen density by 1.2 percent every 100 meters, an increase in solar radiation by 1 -2 percent, ultraviolet radiation by 5-10 percent, and a decrease in blood oxygen levels. At an altitude of over 3000 meters, a person loses appetite, hearing is impaired, and vision weakens. At an altitude of 5000 meters, a person can freeze at a temperature of +6 degrees,” the military expert added.
He also pointed out that Armenia uses prohibited white phosphorous bombs against Azerbaijan.
“Also, in mountainous areas, sometimes you have to continue moving after preliminary belaying with ropes. Low oxygen levels also negatively affect the operation of equipment engines. At altitudes above 2000 meters, engine power can be reduced by 30 percent, and steep slopes and mountain passes should also be taken into account. Mountainous terrain also creates special problems for the use of radio engineering and radar systems due to problems with topographical reference and the reduction in the number of stable zones of activity. Rocky areas absorb and scatter most radio waves, and high levels of atmospheric interference make the situation worse. Since mountain slopes create interference (screening) for low-frequency systems, there is a need to install additional radio relays and relay points. In general, the deployment of any unit and military equipment takes 1.5 - 2 times longer than under normal conditions,” Verdiyev concluded.