A third person was injured and evacuated, the Moscow Defense Ministry said. (Representative)
Baku, Azerbaijan:
Azerbaijan admitted on Monday that it shot down a Russian military helicopter on its border with Armenia and apologized.
Two crew members were killed and a third was injured when the helicopter was shot down in Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan on Monday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.
“The Azerbaijani side apologizes to the Russian side in connection with this tragic incident,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the decision was an accident and “did not target” Moscow.
The Foreign Ministry said the helicopter flew low during hours of darkness and near the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Russian Air Force helicopters had never been seen in the area,” the statement added.
Baku said Azerbaijani forces decided to open fire due to heightened tensions amid fighting with Armenian separatists.
He offered his condolences to the families of those killed and said he was ready to pay compensation.
The incident came during a peak in fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian separatists over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
