Azerbaijan Downs Russian Military Helicopter in Armenia

Wreckage of a Russian Mi-24 helicopter shot down by Azerbaijan in Armenia

Azerbaijan claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian military helicopter, which crashed in the Ararat Province in Armenia on Monday evening local time. The Russian news agency Sputnik-Armenia, citing a source in the Russian military reported the incident.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said the helicopter flew at a low altitude during hours of darkness and close to the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Baku apologized for the incident, with its foreign ministry saying it was an accident and the “move was not aimed against Moscow.” Azerbaijan said its forces decided to open fire due to heightened tensions in its war against Artsakh.

“Most likely, the Russian helicopter was shot down from Nakhichevan and fell in Armenian territory,” the source told Sputnik-Armenia.

Armenia’s Emergency Situations Ministry reported the crash in the hills along the highway that connects the Yeraskh and Paruyr Sevak village. The explosion from the crash caused a fire in the hills.

Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the news, saying the Mi-24 helicopter belonged to the 102nd Russian military base and was fired on from a Man-portable air-defense system. Helicopter was accompanying a convoy of the Russian military base in Gyumri.

Emergency crews arrived at the scene and were able to contain the fire at 7:48 p.m. and completely extinguish it by 8:11 p.m.

Offering its condolences, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack saying “the tragic incident occurred far away from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, at a location, where no military clashes have been recorded during this period. From this perspective the claims of the Azerbaijani side and attempts to justify it are false and groundless.”

“We strongly condemn this assault towards the Russian Armed Forces by the Azerbaijani armed forces within the sovereign territory of Armenia,” said Armenia’s Foreign Ministry. “We are convinced that the use of force against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will receive an adequate response.”