Investigators report details of case on Mi-24 shot down in Armenia

Russian military investigators has reclassified a case on the death of the crew of the Russian helicopter shot down in Armenia to a more serious article on premeditated killing, an informed source of the "Interfax" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 9, 2020, a helicopter accompanying a convoy of the Russian military base through the territory of Armenia was shot down near the border with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. Two crew members were killed, and the third was injured.

The helicopter was shot down by mistake, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced. The Azerbaijani authorities apologized to the Russian side, expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased crew members and announced its willingness to pay compensation. Azerbaijani investigators found the shelling attack on the helicopter as negligence.

The Russian military investigators have reclassified the criminal case on the death of the Mi-24 crew members to a more serious article on premeditated killing, the informed source reports today.

"The criminal case, which had been originally instituted under Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules or preparation for them, resulting in death by negligence) was reclassified to a more serious article: Part 2 of Article 105 (premeditated killing of two or more persons)," the source said. He has also added that such a decision was made based on the results of the investigative and operational actions carried out.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 4, 2021 at 10:19 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.