A burial ceremony for the Azeri-downed helicopter crew members was held at Yerevan’s Yerablur Minitary Pantheon, with Armenian Defense Minister and high-ranking military officials among those attending the ceremony.

Earlier, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree to decorate posthumously with the medal for courage crew members of the NKR Air Forces Mi-24 helicopter - major Sergey Sahakyan, senior lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan, and lieutenant Azat Sahakyan.

On Monday, Nov 24, St. Sargis Church in Yerevan’s Nor Nork hosted a memorial service for the late pilots.

Mi-24 helicopter belonging to the Nagorno Karabakh army was shot during a training flight as result of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani armed forces on Nov 12, at about 1pm local time. The attack took place not far from the line of contact.

The NKR State Commission on prisoners of war, hostages and the missing persons appealed to the International Committee of Red Cross mission in the NKR with regards to the fate of the crewmembers, one of whom could possibly survive the crash. However, Azerbaijan continued to keep the site under fire.

As a result of a special operation on Nov 21 night, NKR armed forces retrieved the body of one crew member, the remains of two pilots and some helicopter wreckage.