Russia pilots pay tribute to helicopter crew killed by Azerbaijani  missile 

ArmInfo. On the fourth anniversary of the memory, on November 9, representatives of the International Humanitarian Foundation "MIR" and Russian servicemen honored the memory of their comrades in arms - army aviation pilots, whose names are forever inscribed in the history of the Erebuni air base stationed in Armenia.

As reported by the press service of the International Humanitarian  Foundation "Mir", Russian servicemen, representatives of the Ministry  of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, the governor, employees of the  administration and representatives of the public of the Ararat  region, students of the Russian school No. 21 of the Ministry of  Defense of Russia in Yerevan laid wreaths and flowers at the memorial  complex "Hill of Memory" at the busts of Major Yuri Ishchuk and  Senior Lieutenant Roman Fedina, who were shot down by a missile  system of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020.

"We will always glorify the names of courageous people fighting for  the Motherland and the fraternal people, the names of those who  heroically gave their lives for justice, freedom, and historical  memory! We must do everything so that our children and grandchildren  remember their feat. Eternal memory to the fallen soldiers!" said  Andranik Nikoghosyan, Chairman of the Board of the International  Humanitarian Foundation "MIR". According to the plan of the  foundation, with the support of the National Defense Management  Center of the Russian Federation, in addition to the memory of  Russian pilots, a monument to Russian peacekeepers who died in  Nagorno-Karabakh while performing combat missions will be erected at  the "Hill of Memory" memorial complex, as well as a memorial temple  named after Elijah the Prophet and a military history museum named  after A.S. Griboyedov, which will house the educational and  methodological center for military-patriotic education of youth  "Avangard".

The project will play a unifying role and will serve to expand and  deepen cooperation in the fields of agriculture, culture, tourism,  sports and patriotic education between the regions of Armenia and  Russia, including the new subjects of Novorossiya. The Russian  Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of  Culture, the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and  Communal Services, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the  Government of the Moscow Region, the Government of St.  Petersburg,  the Government of the Stavropol Territory, the Plenipotentiary  Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the  North Caucasus Federal District, and the Chief Architect of Moscow  have expressed their readiness to assist the project. Let us recall  that on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan began large-scale military  operations against Artsakh, with the aim of forcibly subjugating it.

The fighting lasted 44 days and ended with the signing of a  trilateral statement by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia  on the cessation of all hostilities. On November 9, 2020, at about  17:30 Moscow time, while escorting a convoy of the 102nd Russian  military base on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, in the  airspace near the Armenian settlement of Yeraskh near the border of  the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (Republic of Azerbaijan), a  Russian Mi-24 helicopter was subjected to fire from the ground from a  MANPADS. As a result of the missile hit, the helicopter lost control  and crashed in a mountainous area on the territory of Armenia. Two  crew members were killed, one was evacuated with moderate injuries to  the base airfield. On the evening of the same day - November 9 - a  trilateral statement was signed by the leaders of the Russian  Federation, Azerbaijan and Armenia on a ceasefire in the Karabakh  conflict zone. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry then assured that the  Mi-24 was accidentally shot down by the Azerbaijani military over the  territory of Armenia. "The Azerbaijani side apologizes to the Russian  side in connection with this tragic incident, which is accidental and  was not directed against the Russian side," the Foreign Ministry  noted. The Azerbaijani side declared its readiness to pay the  appropriate compensation. Azerbaijan has not been punished for this  act of aggression against Russian military personnel.