The shooting was reported by both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, but they differ in their assessment of its causes.

The authorities of the unrecognized republic declared by the Karabakh Armenians reported that on Sunday morning, near Stepanakert (Khankendi), an Azerbaijani sabotage group attacked a local police car, as a result of which three police officers were killed and another was wounded.

The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan stated in their comments that the vehicle was carrying ammunition from the territory of Armenia for the Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Two soldiers are said to have been killed in the firefight that began after the Azerbaijani military tried to inspect the vehicle.

Baku claims that the Armenian side violated the terms of the truce by trying to transfer ammunition by bypassing the so-called Lachin Corridor, which is the only route through which goods should be transported from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.

For more than two months, however, traffic on this route has been complicated due to protests by Azerbaijani activists who call themselves environmentalists.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed republic, in turn, claim that there were no weapons and ammunition in the car, and it was not traveling from Armenia, but, on the contrary, from Stepanakert.

There is still no independent information about what exactly happened.

The shooting, judging by reports, took place in the territory in the area of ​​responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces.

They were introduced into the region in the fall of 2020 after the 44-day war, as a result of which Baku regained control over the areas around the perimeter of the self-proclaimed republic and part of Nagorno-Karabakh itself.