Today marks the anniversary of the Mi-8 helicopter crash over Garakand village in Khojavend district, caused by Armenian armed groups. The helicopter was carrying high-ranking Azerbaijani officials.

Axar.az reports that 33 years have passed since the Garakand tragedy.

On November 20, 1991, the helicopter was shot down, killing all 22 passengers on board, including prominent Azerbaijani statesmen, journalists, and members of the Russian-Kazakh peacekeeping mission. The victims were:

Tofig Kazim oglu Ismayilov – State Secretary

Ismet Ismayil oglu Gayibov – Prosecutor General

Mohammed Nabi oglu Asadov – Minister of Internal Affairs

Zulfu Saleh oglu Hajiyev – Deputy Prime Minister

Vagif Jafar oglu Jafarov – MP

Vali Huseyn oglu Mammadov – MP

Osman Mirzayev – Head of Department, Presidential Office

Qurban Namazaliyev – Deputy Minister

Igor Aleksandrovich Plavski – Former Prosecutor of Nagorno-Karabakh

Vladimir Kovalyov – Former Chief of Police of Nagorno-Karabakh

Sergey Ivanov – Head of National Security Department, Nagorno-Karabakh

Nikolay Jinkin – Emergency Zone Commander

Sanlal Serikov – Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan

Mikhail Lukashov – Major General of Police

Oleg Kocherov – Lieutenant Colonel

Rafiq Mammadov – Assistant to State Secretary

Ali Mustafayev – Journalist

Arif Huseynzade – Lighting Specialist, AzTV

Fakhraddin Shahbazov – Cameraman

Vyacheslav Kotov – Helicopter Commander

Gennadi Domov – Crew Member

Dmitri Yarovenko – Crew Member

Initially, officials suggested the helicopter might have crashed due to fog. However, within days, it was confirmed that it had been shot down by Armenians. This terrorist act underscored the separatists' true nature.

In 2023, Garakand village, the site of this act of terror, was liberated from Armenian occupation.