Appeal of the NKR Commission on prisoners of war and the missing persons to the ICRC

On November 13, State Commission on prisoners of war, hostages and the missing persons of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic appealed to the International Committee of Red Cross mission in Nagorno Karabakh in connection with the unarmed helicopter, shot down during its training flight on November 12 by the Azerbaijani armed forces.

The Commission notes that Azerbaijan keeps under fire the side where the helicopter fell, not allowing to clarify the fate of the three members of the helicopter’s crew – Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan. NKR State Commission on prisoners of war, hostages and the missing persons asked the ICRC to assist in clarifying the location of helicopter’s staff and returning them. 

Previously it was reported that in the airspace of the eastern sector of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani border, in the result of the violation of the ceasefire regime, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces shot a helicopter Mi-24 of the Air Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic during a training flight on November 12 at 13:45. The place of the shot is very close to the line of contact. The press service of the Defense Army of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic informed Armenpress that the rival continues firing in the direction of the incident.

The details of the incident are being investigated. Later it was announced from Stepanakert that by preliminary data there are three victims. The Commander of the staff was the Major Sergey Sahakyan. The Spokesperson of the Artsakh President Davit Babayan told Armenpress that the helicopter was not intended for military actions. “The helicopter was not intended for military actions and did not have any weapons in it. It just implemented training exercises. The helicopter was not of danger for the rival. The Azerbaijani side hit the helicopter from the back”, - said Davit Babayan. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States, and Pierre Andrieu of Fra