Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire about 80 times this morning (Source: Photolure)

STEPANAKERT (Artsakhpress)—Azerbaijani forces attempted to advance across the northeast section of line of contact between the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan in the early morning hours of Friday, resulting in the death of one Karabakh Defense Army soldier.

Private Erik Grigoryan was killed this morning when at around 4:30am local time, the front divisions of the Karabakh Defense Army spotted the advancement of Azerbaijani troops. Armenian forces were reportedly quick to rebuff the attack.

The ceasefire violations took place near the village of Talish in the northern Martakert region. Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire about 80 times during the incident, according to the Artsakh Ministry of Defense. Over 650 shots were fired by weapons of different caliber in the direction of Armenian positions.

The Ministry of Defense said on Friday that army divisions were taking necessary measures to stabilize the situation along the line of contact.

Erik Grigoryan was posthumously awarded the “For Service in Battle” medal by President Bako Sahakyan on Friday, the same day he was killed. The Ministry of Defense shared its sorrow for the loss and expressed its sympathy to the family and friends of Grigoryan in a statement.

Grigoryan was born in 1995.