The funeral service for the pilots killed during the downing of an Armenian helicopter by the opponent was held through the military procedure at Yerablur Military Pantheon today.

Among those attending the funeral service were RA Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, NKR Minister of Defense Movses Hakobyan, RA First Deputy Minister of Defense David Tonoyan, Chief of the Main Headquarters of the Armenian Armed Forces Yuri Khachaturov, as well as military servicemen and other officials.

According to “ArmenPress”, a meeting of mourning was held prior to the burial of the heroes’ bodies. RA Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan emphasized that when the ossuary of one of the defenders of the First Republic of Armenia, General Sepuh was being buried at the peak of Yerablur Military Pantheon five days ago it was already clear that Armenia is ready to bring those who died in the fight for the country’s freedom back to the homeland.

“And this first and foremost refers to the bodies of the three military pilots located in the domain between the positions on the Karabakhi-Azerbaijani line of contact. The operation carried out on the night of November 21 was the guarantee of that. As I bow in the glorious memory of the military servicemen who fulfilled their duty until the very end and as I express my deep condolences to their families, I would also like to express my gratitude to all the participants of the special operation carried out to save the bodies. They were the ones who didn’t take heed to diplomacy, met all Armenians’ expectations and brought the bodies of the defenders of Artsakh back home. In the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the death of the helicopter’s commander, Major Sergey Sahakyan and the pilots-Senior Lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan and Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan-was another manifestation of the opponent’s lack of reason and lack of responsibility for its own people,” Ohanyan mentioned.

The minister mentioned that anyone visiting Yerablur Military Pantheon takes pride in the path that the deceased friends took because if it wasn’t for their operations, it would be impossible to ensure the army’s development and peace for the people. “Our deceased friends, as well as the deceased pilots have deprived us of the right to make mistakes. From now on, we must make sure we do things at the high level and in their place and ensure the future development of the Armenian people together. Once again, allow us to bow in memory of all those who died for Artsakh, all the soldiers and officers who completed their assignments in combat and died while defending peace, and in memory of the pilots, let’s say once again-glory to the heroes, eternal glory to the Armenian army ensuring our security and let’s support our homeland and our children protecting us,” the minister said in closing.

By the order of President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan, the pilots of the helicopter had been awarded the ”Valiance” postmortem medal, which was granted to the pilots’ relatives by Commander of the Defense Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Movses Hakobyan at Yerablur Military Pantheon.