Service for killed Armenian pilots at Yerevan church
The civil funeral rites for the three pilots of the MI-24 helicopter took place on Monday at Surb Sargis church in Yerevan’s Nor Nork community. According to the preliminary information by Armenia’s Ministry of Defense, the three pilots will be buried at the Yerablur Pantheon in Yerevan. Major Sergey Sahakyan, Senior Lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan and Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan were killed on November 12 when their helicopter was shot downed by Azerbaijani forces near the Line of Contact. The helicopter fell in a neutral zone. However, Azerbaijan kept the crash site under intense fire disallowing the Armenian side from approaching the wreckage of the helicopter to recover the bodies. The remains of the pilots were recovered on the night of November 22 due to a special operation undertaken by the Armenian side.
