The Artsakh Defense Army (sometimes also known as Artsakh Self-Defense Army) was officially established on May 9, 1992 as the formal defense force of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh, uniting previously disorganized self-defense units which were formed in the early 1990s in order to protect the ethnic Armenian population of Artsakh from the attacks by the military of the Soviet and Azerbaijani forces.
The Artsakh Defense Army was formally established on May 9, 1992 as the official defense force of the Republic of Artsakh, bringing together previously unorganized self-defense groups that emerged in the early 1990s to protect the Armenian population of Artsakh from attacks by Soviet and Azerbaijani military forces.