The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov has sent a letter of condolences to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.

The letter says: “I am deeply shocked by the news about the tragic incident of the Mi-24 helicopter, which conducted flight in close proximity to the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, where the Russian Air Force helicopters had not been seen before, at night, at low altitude, out of the Air Defense radar zone detection, while active military clashes continue in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

We offer our apologies to the Russian side in regard to this tragic incident, which happened by accident and was not directed against the Russian side.

On behalf of the military personnel of the Azerbaijan Army and on my own, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families, relatives, and friends of the deceased crew members and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.
We grieve over the tragedy together with you”.