Azerbaijan destroys war memorials in Artsakh village

Azerbaijani forces have destroyed two memorials in the Artsakh village of Astghashen, erasing monuments that commemorated local heroes of both the Artsakh Liberation War and World War II.

The Artsakh State Service for the Protection of Historical Environment reported on Wednesday that satellite imagery analysis revealed the destruction occurred between April 19, 2024, and July 15, 2025.

One of the demolished sites was a monument erected in 2012 to honor Astghashen’s fighters who fell during the Artsakh Liberation War. The second was a memorial built in the 1970s to commemorate villagers who died in the Great Patriotic War (World War II).

The service condemned the acts as part of a broader campaign of cultural erasure in territories now under Azerbaijani occupation. It also noted the silence of Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, questioning the lack of response to deliberate destruction of Armenian monuments.