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A Russian military helicopter was shot down in Armenia on Monday, near the border with Azerbaijan, according to the Moscow Defense Ministry. Two crew members have died, according to The Moscow Times.
UPDATE 22:50 – Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Azerbaijani troops accidentally shot down a Russian military helicopter near the border with Armenia, and it apologized to Moscow for the incident and its willingness to pay compensation.
The plane was hit around 6.30 pm (14.30 GMT) while accompanying a column of vehicles from a Russian military base in Armenia.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia has announced that it has moved aid to the site.
Initial novelty:
Russian officials say the Mi-24 helicopter was hit by a portable anti-aircraft defense system near the border with Azerbaijan, whose forces are fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
A third person aboard the helicopter was injured and was evacuated.
“The Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down in the airspace on the territory of the Republic of Armenia outside the combat zone,” said General Igor Konashenkov, an official of the Defense Ministry, according to Mediafax.
An investigation is underway to establish the attackers’ nationality or any other potential affiliation.
Yerevan is willing to provide information assistance to Moscow during the investigation, said a spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry.
The incident took place amid the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the highly contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, where active hostilities resumed on September 27. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of bombing residential areas. The parties have signed three ceasefire agreements, but the fighting continues to this day.
Publisher: Liviu Cojan
