Situation on the line of contact of the Nagorny Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively calm, Seyran Ohanyan, Defense Minister of Armenia, said on May 28, on the event timed to the First Republic Day.
The minister said the Armed Forces of Armenia have created mechanisms to prevent Azerbaijan's sabotage attacks. "At present there are sporadic shots on the line of contact and on the border," the minister said. "An Azerbaijani helicopter has flied near the Artsakh border recently. It was a passenger helicopter and we did not respond to it. Our frontier guards just reported to us about it," Ohanyan said.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The Azeri forces did not let either the Armenian forces or the ICRC representatives to approach the wreckage to recover the bodies of the pilots. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.