We suspect that the crosses on the domes of the Surb Astvatsatsin Church in Stepanakert have been dismantled

After monitoring Azerbaijani media, the State Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Artsakh found out that the crosses on the domes of the Surb Astvatsatsin Church in occupied Stepanakert were dismantled.

“From the footage published by the Azerbaijani media, reasonable suspicions arose that crosses were removed from the domes of the Stepanakert Church,” says the State Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Artsakh on its Facebook page.

Alpha News spoke about this with the Chair of the Public Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Artsakh, Sergey Shakhverdyan.

“We cannot say for sure that the crosses were removed. We made this observation based on the footage from Azerbaijani media, in which we could not see the crosses. Perhaps the footage was taken from such an angle that the crosses were not visible, but most likely the crosses were actually removed. We will wait for the publication of other materials where the real picture will be clearly visible.

If the crosses are indeed dismantled, then this is not surprising, because this is a normal process for the Azerbaijani authorities. We recorded many similar facts during and after the 44-day war. One such example is the complete destruction of the church in the village of Mokhrenes, Hadrut region. We have evidence confirmed by facts.”

According to Sergey Shahverdyan, it will be difficult to obtain information about the damage or destruction of cultural and historical heritage in Artsakh this time since there are no Armenians left in Artsakh and the access to social media in Azerbaijan was restricted during the hostilities.

“Currently, there are no Armenians on the territory of Artsakh from whom we could receive information. I assume that the entry of Russian peacekeepers into Stepanakert is also limited, and we cannot receive clear information from them either. We can only monitor publications in Azerbaijani media and social networks. This time we receive little information because, during the war, TikTok and other social media were immediately blocked in Azerbaijan. Now they have opened. We must be ready for numerous footages filmed by the Azerbaijani military to be published,” said Sergey Shahverdyan.