Armenian soldier was killed as a result of Azerbaijani shooting

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia reported that today at around 12:40, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened targeted fire on Armenian combat positions on the western section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, as a result of which two servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces received a gunshot wound.

One of them, serviceman Hrach Manasaryan, died on the way to the hospital.

The life of the other wounded serviceman is not in danger.

Earlier today the Armenian MoD reported that the information spread by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry that allegedly units of the Defense Army opened fire on Azerbaijani positions in the eastern direction is incorrect.

In fact, over the past few days, the ceasefire regime has been periodically violated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, about which information was provided to the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Artsakh Defense Army reports.

The units of the Defense Army didn’t suffer losses. 

The Artsakh Defense Ministry has also reported about the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Azerbaijani side.

"On March 7, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces once again violated the ceasefire regime in the direction of the cemetery of the village of Khramort in the Askeran district, the Ministry of Defense of Artsakh reports," the statement reads.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia has issued a statement on the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

"On March 7, a serviceman of the armed forces of Armenia, sergeant Hrach Manasaryan was killed and another serviceman was wounded as a result of the gross violation of the ceasefire by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the western part of the border of Armenia.

Although the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has denied that a serviceman of the armed forces of Armenia was killed by their armed units, the official press release regarding the consultations held at the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan on March 7 is in line with the tendency of increasing aggression of the Azerbaijani armed units.

Condemning the murder of a serviceman of the armed forces of Armenia, we consider it necessary to emphasize that such incidents, recurring violations of the ceasefire regime even more substantiate the need for a mirrored withdrawal of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan borderline and the deployment of an observation mission in the bordering area," the statement reads.

Gegham Stepanyan, the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, touched upon the fake information spread in recent days by Azerbaijani information sources about the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Armenian side in different areas of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border․

"In recent days, the Azerbaijani military-affiliated information sources have been spreading false rumors about the violation of the ceasefire by the Armenian side in various parts of the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact. In this way, Azerbaijan wants to justify the criminal encroachments on the civilian population, and at the same time, prepare the ground for subsequent actions and provocations.

On March 6, the Azerbaijani side fired at the Khramort community of the Askeran region with different caliber firearms. Today, on March 7, at around 5:00 pm, a grenade launcher was used in the same area, the projectiles exploded near the village cemetery. There are no casualties among the civilians.

The Azerbaijani criminal actions against the physical and psychological integrity of the people of Artsakh are systemic and directed, organized with the knowledge of the Azerbaijani authorities and by their order.

All the registered cases once again prove the direct and indisputable intention of the Azerbaijani side to disrupt the normal life of the peaceful population of the Artsakh Republic and to ethnically cleanse Artsakh," Stepanyan wrote.

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