MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian military investigators now treat the November 9 crash of a helicopter over Armenia as “intentional murder”, a more serious charge than the previous “negligent death”, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday. , citing a source.
A Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down over Armenia near the border with a region belonging to Azerbaijan, killing two crew members and wounding another, just hours before a Moscow-mediated peace agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh was reached.
Heavy fighting between Azerbaijan, which has political support from Turkey, and ethnic Armenian forces in the mountainous region lasted six weeks at the time of the incident.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Azerbaijani forces accidentally shot the helicopter down, expressing apologies to Moscow and readiness to pay damages.
Interfax said on Monday, citing the source, that a case had initially been opened in a potential violation of flight regulations that resulted in negligent deaths.
The reported move to a murder charge, which could lead to a life sentence for those responsible, could complicate relations between Moscow and Azerbaijan.
The conflict tested Moscow’s influence in the South Caucasus, an area of the former Soviet Union that it considers vital to defend its own southern flank.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)