Russian military helicopter shot down in Armenia, two dead

Moscow: A Russian military helicopter was shot down Monday in Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan, the defence ministry in Moscow said, killing two crew members.

The ministry said in a statement that the Mi-24 helicopter was hit by a man-portable air defence system close to the border with Azerbaijan.

A third person was injured and evacuated, it said.

A little later, Azerbaijan admitted it had shot down the helicopter on its border with Armenia and apologised.

"The Azerbaijani side offers an apology to the Russian side in connection with this tragic incident," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding the move was an accident and "not aimed against" Moscow.