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Azerbaijan has destroyed the Greater and Lesser Syunik monument in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in a series of efforts to erase its Armenian traces, the Artsakh Monument Watch reports, citing satellite images.

In 2023, during Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh and the invasion of the Lachin (Berdzor) corridor, the monument, also known as Motherland, fell under Azerbaijani control.

Google satellite maps updated in April 2024 show that the monument was razed to the ground.

The monument was built in 2004 by architect Sevada Zakaryan, at the initiative of former Syunik Governor Suren Khachatryan and with the funding of Maxim Hakobyan, chair of the board of directors of the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine. In 2007, a khackar was erected next to the memorial, indicating the entrance to Artsakh.

"The Armenian side moved the khachkar on 3 April 2023 in a rare move to remove a monument from its historical landscape for the sake of salvation," the Monument Watch said.