Azerbaijan reportedly used Belarusian weapons to destroy Armenian drones

A new leak of Belarusian documents has revealed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces used air defense systems supplied by Belarus to shoot down 11 Armenian drones during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, reports Hetq.

Despite officially being allies within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), relations between Armenia and Belarus have significantly deteriorated since it became known that Belarus supplied arms to Azerbaijan—Yerevan’s adversary in the conflict.

Armenian officials have repeatedly criticized Belarus for this, calling such conduct unacceptable from a partner state.

According to documents released by Hetq, based on secret letters and communications analyzed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Hetq, and exiled Belarusian journalists from Bureau Media, Belarus’ Tetraedr company not only sold weapons to Azerbaijan but also helped modernize its air defense systems.

One leaked report details how these updated Pechora-2TM systems, a Belarusian version of the Soviet-era S-125, were actively used during the 2020 war. Four separate complexes—identified by factory numbers 3, 2, 28, and 11—were responsible for downing 3, 2, 3, and 3 drones respectively.

Armenia’s Ministry of Defense declined to confirm or deny the information, citing state secrecy. It also refused to clarify whether any Pechora-2TM systems had been destroyed by Armenian forces in recent years.

The Tetraedr report also notes that one system, factory number 14, suffered minor damage from an artillery blast during the war. A video shared on platform X claimed an Armenian drone hit the control center of the system, though the footage suggests the equipment was only damaged, not fully destroyed.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee, which is overseeing a criminal case linked to Azerbaijan’s 2020 attack on Artsakh, responded that no data had been obtained regarding the Pechora-2TM in the ongoing investigation.

Unlike Armenia’s defense and investigative bodies, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to media inquiries at all.

The 44-day war, which began in September 2020, resulted in Azerbaijan capturing large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh. In September 2023, following renewed hostilities, Azerbaijan took control of the remaining areas, prompting over 115,000 ethnic Armenians to flee. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko described the operations as a “liberation war.”

In response, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared he would no longer visit Belarus as long as Lukashenko remains in power. While relations between the two countries remain tense, Armenia and Azerbaijan preliminarily signed a peace agreement in August with U.S. mediation.

The leaked materials also indicate that between 2006 and 2020, “Tetraedr” signed at least 16 contracts with Azerbaijan, including for equipment supply, technical servicing, and repairs. Two of these contracts, signed in December 2017 and worth approximately $13.3 million, specifically concern maintenance of the Pechora-2TM systems.

Prior to these deals, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visited Minsk in October 2017.

At least nine contracts were signed not with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense but with a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, N.P.O. Navigation Systems.