Governor Karen Sarukhanyan of Armenia’s Shirak Province on Wednesday met with Aleksei Polyukhovich, deputy commander of staff at the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, to discuss the incident that occurred Tuesday in Panik village.

“Aleksei Polyukhovich apologized and noted that the incident was a result of carelessness, assuring that there will no longer be such an omission in their work,” Sarukhanyan informed, in particular, on Facebook.

“The military exercises were conducted to enhance the combat-readiness of the military base,” Polyukhovich had said. “We realize that the population was worried and frightened. We acknowledge that we have failed and the community was not properly informed [about these military exercises]. We will conduct a service investigation, and those guilty will be brought to account.”

The Panik village residents on Tuesday heard sounds of shootings and explosions. Sometime thereafter, it was found out that the ones carrying out these shootings and explosions were the servicemen from the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, and that they had entered the village without notifying and without documents, and conducted military exercises.