YEREVAN. - It is regrettable that Azerbaijan continuously ignores the calls of the international community and opposes the evacuation of the bodies of Armenian pilots of a helicopter shot by Azeris in violation of the ceasefire, Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) Republic MFA informs.

According to Armenian News - NEWS.am, Artsakh Foreign Affairs Ministry blames Azerbaijan in distorting the details of the incident and manipulating facts.

“In the attempt to justify the flagrant violation of the norms of humanitarian law, Baku once again appeals to the UN Security Council resolutions. We consider it necessary to remind that the first priority and the main requirement of all four resolutions was immediate ceasefire. This basic requirement of all resolutions was repeatedly broken by Azerbaijan are is not fully satisfied so far, as evidenced the incident with the shot helicopter. The behavior of Azerbaijan that ignores demands of four UN Security Council resolutions and its obvious desire to resolve the conflict by force and constant threats of renewed war have led to the devaluation and loss of effectiveness of these resolutions,” the Artsakh MFA statement reads.

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.