Artsakh to apply to Russian peacekeeping mission over Azeri machine gun fire at farmers

Artsakh’s police say they will apply to the Russian peacekeeping command regarding the latest incident when Azerbaijani military servicemen opened cross-border automatic gunfire at farmers in Artsakh.

The Interior Ministry spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS that police have prepared materials and a protocol for submitting to the peacekeepers.

“Around 09:40, April 7, Azerbaijani [servicemen] started shooting from the Azeri-occupied Sargsashen village in the direction of 65-year-old Shirin Sargsyan and 36-year-old Vitaly Harutyunyan, residents of the Sarushen village who were farming in the fields of Sarushen. The Azerbaijani side used a machine gun, and the left-side windshield of Harutyunyan’s tractor was broken. Detectives of Askeran Regional Police have questioned the farmers, photographed the scene and the tractor, relevant materials were prepared and will be presented to the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. In addition, at the order of Interior Minister Karen Sargsyan, police patrol is on a heightened regime at the Shosh-Sarushen-Karmir Shuka highway. More police checkpoints will be added for 24/7 monitoring if needed,” Tadevosyan said.

Despite the incident, the farmers continue working in the fields.

Shirin Sargsyan and Vitaly Harutyunyan both escaped unharmed from the incident.