YEREVAN. – The press service of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Defense (RA MOD) has issued a statement.

“On [Friday,] June 26 at around 6:30pm, the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime in the Nakhichevan[, Azerbaijan,] direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (…) by opening fire in the direction of the Armenian positions located nearby the Gorhayk settlement of the RA Syunik Province.

“[But] as a result of the retaliatory actions by the position-holding subdivisions of the RA Armed Forces, the firing positions of the adversary were silenced.

“According to the operative data received, a separate army unit of Nakhichevan has casualties and injuries. Unfortunately, RA Armed Forces’ conscript, Private Arman Yepremyan, also sustained a fatal gunshot wound during the exchange of fire.

“Such a practice by the Azerbaijan Armed Forces is in stark contrast to the spirit and logic of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict settlement negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmanship, and it is fraught with the risk of rapid destabilization of the situation, whose entire accountability falls upon the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan,” the RA MOD statement specifically reads.