Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained on Friday why Moscow accepted Baku’s apology for the downed Mi-24.
Peskov said in an interview with RT: “This is really a catastrophe, this is a tragedy, two of our soldiers were killed. In this case, it is clear that the immediate reaction of the President of Azerbaijan and the announcement of readiness to conduct an impartial investigation and punish the guilty made us accept an apology.”
He added that this was an important move that deescalated the tensions following the downing of the Mi-24 choppers.
A Russian Mi-24 was shot down on November 9th in Armenian airspace outside the combat zone. Two crew members were killed, and another person was wounded.
Baku admitted that the incident was an accident, and apologized and was willing to pay compensation.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case under the heading of “failure to serve”. In turn, Russian investigators opened a criminal case under the article “Violating or preparing for flight rules.”
The incident occurred during the escalation in Karabakh, but it did not prevent Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russian mediation, from concluding a ceasefire agreement on the 10th of November.
Source: Almasdarnews
