[13] HRW and Amnesty International confirmed reports by the Armenian side [14] on the use of cluster munitions in populated areas of Shushi and other settlements of Kharabakh, resulting in civilian casualties.

[13] Armenia's Foreign Ministry issued an official statement describing it as "another crime of the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan... this action fully fits into its policy of Armenophobia developed for decades.

[29] They also stated that "With these actions Azerbaijan replicates the behavior of its newly acquired allies, infamous international terrorist organizations that are responsible for the destruction of numerous historical-cultural monuments in the Middle East".

[2] According to Armenpress, Pargev Martirosyan, the bishop of the Diocese of Artsakh of which the cathedral is the episcopal see, compared the shelling with the actions of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, saying "They are bombarding our spiritual values, when we are restoring and preserving mosques".

[10][31] The video was posted on October 12 on Armenia's official Twitter account, which according to Al-Jazeera, was a message that the cathedral's shelling by Azerbaijan was part and parcel of a centuries-old enmity of Turks towards Armenians.

[33] In an interview with BBC News journalist Orla Guerin, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, denied the church was a military target for his forces and said that the shelling was "either it was a mistake of our artillery or it was a deliberate provocation by Armenians themselves".

[34] On Russia 1 TV show Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, Azerbaijani journalist and political analyst, Saadat Kadyrova, justified the shelling of the church since the Armenian armed forces were praying in the building.

[35] A statement released by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), signed by Israel Charny, Yair Auron, Matthias Bjørnlund, Tessa Hofmann and others condemned intentional attacks of civilians and civilian infrastructures by Azerbaijani forces, describing the strikes on the church as "part of policy of the cultural genocide that the Azerbaijani government has been implementing over the past 30 years by systematically destroying the Armenian historical heritage.".

[36] World Monuments Fund condemned the targeting of the cathedral, stating that it "considers absolutely unacceptable any willful destruction of cultural heritage" [37][38] Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia director Hugh Williamson called on Azerbaijan to investigate the attacks: "It has been over a month since Azerbaijan has retaken control of Shusha and the government needs to waste no time in investigating the attacks and holding those responsible to account.

[66] USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza added that "While the cathedral is certainly in need of repair following the damage it endured as a result of Azerbaijani shelling last fall, it is imperative that it and other sites are properly restored and maintained.

[68] In its 2021 Annual Report USCIRF reiterated that "Over the course of the fighting and in the immediate aftermath of the November ceasefire, numerous local and international observers raised concerns about safeguarding religious and other cultural sites, specifically underscoring the need to protect the various Armenian churches, monasteries, and cemeteries lost or subsequently ceded to Azerbaijani control.

[70] On December 7, 2020, the court upheld the interim measures requested by Armenia to ensure that Azerbaijan prevented "vandalism and desecration" of the Armenian cultural heritage located in the territories controlled by Baku.