YEREVAN. - The Azerbaijani side categorically denies access of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk to the crash site of the Armenian helicopter shot by Azerbaijan in violation of the ceasefire, Armenian News - NEWS.am reports.

The Azeri MOD press service chief Vagif Dargyahly has earlier opposed Armenia‘s request and said that Ambassador Kasprzyk will not get access to the territory, where Azeri side had shot down Armenian MI-24 chopper. According to him, the monitoring of Artsakh-Azeri line of contact will be held in the direction of Merzili village of Agdam region.

Thus, Azerbaijan once again officially denied to conduct international monitoring and investigation in the area of crashed helicopter.

The Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire and shot down a Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Air Force helicopter on Wednesday. The chopper was downed during a training flight, and it crashed nearby the Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. As a result, three pilots are believed to have been killed: the commander of the helicopter, Major Sergey Sahakyan, the Senior Lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan, and the Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan. Information was disseminated some time thereafter, however, that a member of the helicopter crew may still be alive. The adversary, on the other hand, continues to fire intensive shots toward the crash site, thus, not allowing the Armenian side access to the area.