By Tsarizm Staff | October 17, 2020
Baku boasted of downing an Armenian SU-25 Frogfoot in the battle for the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus. The Armenian government in Yerevan denied the development.
“On October 17, at 11:11 local time (10:11 Moscow time), Azerbaijani air defense units destroyed Su-25 aircraft belonging to the Armenian Armed Forces, which tried to strike at the positions of the Azerbaijani army units in the direction of the Jabrayil region,” the defense ministry said in a statement, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
The Armenian Defense Ministry denied Baku’s statement, calling it misinformation. “The statement of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry that on October 17 they allegedly shot down Su-25 aircraft belonging to the Armenian side is yet another misinformation,” Armenian Defense Ministry press secretary Shushan Stepanyan said.
Russia has walked a tightrope between the two belligerents, as it has supplied weapons to both. Turkey is supporting the Muslim nation of Azerbaijan. Armenia is Orthodox Christian, as is the Russian Federation by majority, although it has a large Muslim minority.
Moscow has a military base inside Armenia. Russian President Putin has denied any security obligations for Armenia per treaty as the fighting is in the ‘frozen conflict’ area of the Soviet Union, and not on Armenia proper.
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This piece originally appeared on Tsarizm.com [3] and is used by permission.