YEREVAN, Armenia — Moscow has acknowledged that a military vehicle carrying Russian peacekeepers was attacked, resulting in the deaths of its crew, as Azerbaijan escalated its assaults on the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Captain First Rank (Colonel) Ivan Kovgan, the deputy commander of Russia’s North Fleet submarine forces.
Russian media reports on September 21 indicated that among the Russian troops killed during Azerbaijan’s shelling of Nagorno-Karabakh the day before was Captain First Rank (Colonel) Ivan Kovgan, the deputy commander of Russia’s North Fleet submarine forces. The Club of Navy Submarine Veterans in St. Petersburg confirmed Kovgan’s death, stating that he was killed when Azerbaijani forces opened fire on a vehicle transporting Russian peacekeepers. Kovgan had been appointed as the deputy commander of the peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh just two months ago.
The Ministry of Defense released a statement, explaining that the patrol was attacked near the village of Dzhanyatag. The statement read, “A car with Russian servicemen came under small arms fire. As a result of the shelling, the Russian servicemen in the vehicle were killed,” without specifying the number of casualties.
This incident followed Azerbaijan’s intensified attacks on Nagorno-Karabakh and its announcement that it had effectively gained control of the breakaway region through a rapid offensive operation. A ceasefire brokered by Moscow has since been established, with talks regarding the territory’s future scheduled for Thursday.
Armenia’s government has become embroiled in a heated dispute with the Kremlin, citing the perceived inaction of Russian peacekeepers in the region.
Earlier this month, Armenia, once a close ally of Russia, decided to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the first time since the start of Russia’s invasion. Armenia also intended to conduct joint military exercises with the United States.
With Russia preoccupied by its ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine, concerns are growing in Armenia about whether President Vladimir Putin’s troops are capable of maintaining peace in the Caucasus. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has asserted that the peacekeeping mission has failed.
Pashinyan acknowledged that Russia’s capabilities have shifted due to the events in Ukraine, recognizing that Moscow is attempting to avoid alienating Azerbaijan and its close ally Turkey. Both countries have risen in strategic importance for the Kremlin since the commencement of the war in Ukraine.
“Russia will abandon Armenia, it will not fight there, it is not a partner for any country. All the commitments that Russia has made to Armenia are now worth nothing, and it will leave it alone with this problem,” stated Olexiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council, in response to the offensive, as reported by the Ukrainska Pravda news website.
Source: with agencies