Those Responsible for the Death of Russian Pilots Will Be Punished, Aliyev Assures Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev has promised to conduct a thorough investigation and hold accountable those responsible for the attack on a Russian helicopter, TASS reports.

“The President of Azerbaijan assured me that a thorough investigation will be conducted as part of the initiated criminal case, and the criminals will be punished,” he said during a meeting with defense ministry leadership, heads of federal agencies, and leaders of defense industry enterprises.

Putin tasked Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to provide assistance to the families of the servicemen killed as a result of the attack on the Russian helicopter in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Putin and the participants of the meeting observed a moment of silence in memory of the crew members of the Mi-24 helicopter, which was shot down in the Armenian sky on Monday. He also mentioned the names of the victims. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of crew commander Yuri Ischchuk and Senior Lieutenant Roman Fedin. On November 9, a Russian Mi-24 helicopter was hit in the air near the border with Azerbaijan. Two crew members were killed, and one was injured. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry admitted that the helicopter was mistakenly shot down by the armed forces of the republic and stated that Baku is ready to compensate Moscow.