On October 15, a video appeared on social networks showing Azerbaijani soldiers shoot two prisoners of war wrapped in Armenian flags. 

Reaction to this from the Armenian side was immediate and very strong. Deputies and human rights activists condemned the criminal act. The General Prosecutor's Office in Yerevan opened a criminal case. The Ombudsman of Armenia stated that “Azerbaijani soldiers humiliate people and then ruthlessly kill them with never before seen cruelty.

The actions and words of the Azerbaijani militants are full of hatred." He added that the video and photos have already been documented as legal evidence and will be sent to international organizations with the relevant explanations tomorrow. 

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that this video was fake, It is used for propaganda and has nothing to do with the servicemen of his army.

 Firstly, the strange thing is, if the soldiers truly did commit such an inhuman act, why did they film it and then post it on social networks? They must have understood that such an act is a gross violation of all laws and international norms, having received publicity, it will certainly lead to retribution. In this regard, we decided to track how this video got into social networks in general and analyze all the frames in detail as much as possible.

 The video consists of two nearly independent parts.The first part shows Armenians being captured. The second part shows the captured Armenians being moved elsewhere, after which they were shot. Interestingly, part one was distributed first. It is difficult to say who did this and where, but Azerbaijanis immediately noticed the plot of the video and began to actively share it. The "trap" has done its job: which Azerbaijani would not want to share the scenes of their glorious army liberating more settlement areas while capturing the enemy! But they did not know that there would be more to come! Soon, the second part of the video was released, and shortly after, the entire version was released, which fully reflected the scenes of the capture, torture and shooting of Armenian soldiers. It is also difficult to identify the author of the edited version as most posts do not cite the original source. Only Armenian names are mentioned in the references. For example, Censor.NET shows that a user named Tigran Avakian posted the footage on his page.

What, though, can be seen in this plot that raises serious doubts and does not seem to be true?

1. The soldiers speak Azerbaijani to each other and give orders to the prisoners in Russian. The long-forgotten dialect of Armenians in Baku is immediately heard, but now, of course, very few people can notice this. There is no distinguishable mark on their uniforms. And suddenly in the corner of the frame appears a soldier with a flag on his arm. These are the familiar colors of the Armenian flag! Are we to believe our own army goes to war in enemy uniforms?!

2. "088 KARABAKH AZERBAIJAN" is written in capital letters on the wall behind the low stone fence where the prisoners were sitting before the shooting. Clearly, this writing also has a special meaning in the video. But the problem is that in Latin script the capital letters "Ğ" and "C" are marked differently. Now. must we also believe that the Azerbaijani soldier cannot write the words he fights for properly?

3. According to the geolocation discovered with the help of MilitaryMaps on the basis of the video, the capture and shooting took place in Hadrut. The exact points are marked on the map below. But then, would that mean Azerbaijani army already had full control over Hadrut at the time of filming? Because, as the map shows, the soldiers and the captives traveled from one end of the city to the other. Armenians categorically denied this. Armenian sources, in their comments claim the soldiers in the video are Azerbaijani special forces, who first infiltrated Hadrut and then were driven out of the city with a counter attack from the Armenian army. But the soldiers in the video do not act like special forces at all. Lack of discipline and chatter among soldiers, orders are being repeatedly shouted (“watch the sides”,  “the sides…”, “the sides…” ). At the time of the shooting, the commander orders them to aim for the head. The soldiers answer him “Oha”, instead of saying “Understood”. The half-conscious looking Armenian that is leaning back does not get pushed back when shot with so many bullets up-close, instead he leans forward and falls face down which goes against all laws of physics known to man.

Aykhan