The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has offered his apologies for the deaths of Russian peacekeepers during Baku’s recent military campaign to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory. The Kremlin confirmed this apology and stated that Aliyev emphasized the need for a thorough investigation into the incident and the punishment of those responsible.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that one of their vehicles came under small-arms fire while returning from an observation post near a village in Karabakh. As a result, Russian servicemen in the vehicle were killed. The ministry did not disclose the exact number of peacekeepers who lost their lives.
A pro-war channel named Rybar, which is connected to Russia’s military, claimed that two Russian soldiers were inside the vehicle when it was hit. However, this information has not been independently confirmed.
One of the soldiers was identified as Ivan Kovgan, the deputy chief of the Northern Fleet’s submarine forces, according to a report by a Russian Navy veterans’ club.
The Azerbaijan Defense Ministry identified the vehicle as a Russian-made UAV Patriot SUV and stated that investigative authorities from both Azerbaijan and Russia are working together to determine the causes of the incident.
The Azeri ministry called for patience during the investigation and expressed condolences to the Russian military and the soldiers’ relatives.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its peacekeepers assisted 5,000 out of 10,000 residents who fled Karabakh during Azerbaijan’s two-day military operation.
In 2020, Russia deployed peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a ceasefire agreement to end a six-week war, during which Azerbaijan regained control of parts of the region.
It is worth noting that on the same day as the ceasefire agreement in 2020, an Azerbaijani anti-air missile shot down a Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunship, resulting in the death of two crewmen.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenian separatists seized Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. This led to a war that claimed the lives of 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
AFP contributed reporting.
