Russia a lost a helicopter. Azerbaijan has admitted mistakenly
shooting down a Russian Mi-24 military helicopter over Armenia.
Two crew members lost their life and a third is injured.
It comes amid ferocious fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists
for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia said a missile downed its Mi-24 which was accompanying a column of Russian
forces in Armenia, where it has a base. The Russian Ministry of Defence in Moscow
stated in a statement that the helicopter was hit by a MANPADS or man-portable air-defense system.
It added had launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for the act.
But this is not just a loss on a helicopter but has a much wider impact.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how Russia's loss of its Mi-24 military helicopter
in Armenia - Azerbaijan clash is a reminder of the failed Soviet campaign in Afghanistan?
Let’s get into the details.
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Armenia and Azerbaijan are involved in bitter conflict.
The conflict is essentially an ethnic and territorial one
over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
It is inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, while the seven surrounding districts
were inhabited mostly by Azerbaijanis until their expulsion during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but mostly governed by the
unrecognised Republic of Artsakh (formerly named Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)) since the war.
Russia has a military base in Armenia, and the two countries are also members of the Moscow-led
Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The treaty envisages Russia's military support if Armenia is attacked - but it does not include
Nagorno-Karabakh or the other Azerbaijani regions around it seized by Armenian forces.
Moscow also has strong ties to Azerbaijan, which is being openly backed by Turkey - a Nato member.
Russia has been selling weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has been successful in retaking territory
that belonged to it under international law but had been de facto controlled by Armenia
Russian peacekeeping forces are now being deployed to an
ethnic Armenian territory in the Caucasus Mountains.
The Mi-24 attack cum transport helicopter was developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant,
a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters. It entered service with the Soviet
Union in the late 1970s and has been deployed by 40 countries. More than
3,500 Mi-24 helicopters have been produced. It has been deployed in more than 40 wars.
The original model (Nato codename Hind-A),
designed to carry eight combat troops, was later reconfigured to take on the gunship role (Hind-D).
Later versions, Mi-24P (Hind-F) and the export Mi-35P,
are also armed with anti-tank missile systems for the engagement of moving armored targets, weapon
emplacements and slow-moving air targets. All versions retain the troop transport capability.
The Mi-35P version entered into serial production in August 2020.
The design of the Mi-24 is based on a conventional pod and boom, with a five-blade main rotor
and three-blade tail rotor. It has retractable tricycle nose-wheel landing gear.
The helicopter is powered by two Isotov TV3-117VMA turboshaft engines, developing 2,200 shp each.
The helicopter has six suspension weapon units on the wingtips.
These can be used to deploy several types of armaments including guns, cannons, rockets.
In the statement, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said the Russian Mi-24 was shot down at 18:30
local time "on the Nakhchivan section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border".
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is Azerbaijan's western landlocked exclave,
bordering Armenia, Iran and Turkey.
Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said the helicopter had been flying at a low altitude
during hours of darkness, and outside "the air defense radar detection zone".
It said that "Russian Air Force helicopters have not been seen in the specified area before”.
The statement added, in the context of these and other factors,
"the combat crew on duty took the decision to open fire,”
The Azerbaijani side apologizes to the Russian side in connection with this tragic incident,
which is accidental and was not directed against the Russian side.
It expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the perished crew members
and wishes the injured people a speedy recovery.
The Azerbaijani side declares its readiness to pay appropriate compensation.
The Russian defense ministry said its Mi-24 was shot down by a missile
as it was accompanying a column of vehicles belonging to the 102nd Russian military base.
It said this happened near the town of Yeraskh. The helicopter lost control and crashed in
a mountainous area on Armenian territory. The Russian foreign ministry later tweeted:
"We regard positively the fact that Baku ( capital of Azerbaijan)
recognized that it was to blame without delay." It also said that Azerbaijan had pledged to carry
out a speedy investigation into the incident and those responsible would be punished.
The incident reminds of the Soviet Union’s tryst with the Stinger MANPADS
By the mid-1980s, several years after the Soviet Union moved into Afghanistan,
neither the Soviets nor the US-backed Afghan rebels had gained an edge.
The Pentagon decided to supply Afghan rebels with Stinger
As per some reports, 300 were reportedly delivered in 1986 and the number swelled to 700 next year.
It is thought that about 2500 were provided in all.
Pakistani officials were given training on the missile.
These personnel moved back to their country and in turn passed on the know-how to the Afghan rebels
The Stinger took a significant toll on Russian helicopters.
Within two years of the first successful Stinger strike,
Russia began to pull out of Afghanistan and completely withdrew from Feb1989.
Currently, there is jubilation in Baku and sorrow and anger in Yerevan,
the capital of Armenia. A Russian foreign ministry
spokeswoman played down the likelihood of military intervention, urging both sides to end hostilities
but said that Moscow “does not support a forcible settlement of this crisis.”
Though not of the same scale as Afghanistan, this is also a tactical setback for Moscow.