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Battles in the city of Stepanakert: The battles in the conflict region Nagorno-Karabakh have been increasing for weeks
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
For weeks there has been bloody fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus.
Any attempt at mediation between the conflicting parties Armenia and Azerbaijan have so far been unsuccessful, instead the conflict is becoming increasingly severe.
Now a military helicopter from Russia was shot down in the fighting.
The Russian Mi-24 helicopter crashed on Armenian territory, said the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow.
Two crew members were killed and another injured.
The helicopter lost control after a rocket fire and crashed in a mountain region near the border with the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan.
The incident occurred outside the combat zone in Nagorno-Karabakh, it said.
It is more than 100 kilometers away from it.
As an ally of Russia, Armenia pledged to support the investigation.
The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said that Azerbaijani forces accidentally shot down the helicopter.
I apologize to Moscow.
They are ready to pay compensation to Russia.
"The Azerbaijani side apologizes (...) for this tragic incident."
This was not directed against Russia, according to the Russian news agency Tass from Baku.
The heavy fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh has been going on since September 27th.
Azerbaijan lost control of the mountainous area with around 145,000 inhabitants in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union around 30 years ago.
A fragile ceasefire has existed since 1994.
Azerbaijan can rely on its "brother state" Turkey in the conflict.
Russia, in turn, is Armenia's protective power.
Despite several attempts at mediation - including from Moscow - the fighting over the disputed region continues.
According to President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani military has recently brought another 23 villages under its control.
"Long live the Azerbaijani army!" "Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" Wrote Aliyev on Twitter.
According to Azerbaijani sources, more than 200 towns have been captured since the offensive began on September 27.
The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia did not confirm this.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan announced that the Armenian armed forces had repulsed enemy attacks in various directions.
Accordingly, there were particularly heavy battles for the strategically important city of Shusha as well as for Martuni, Martakert, Tagaward and other places.
The attacks were repulsed everywhere.
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