During the shelling of Russian "peacekeepers" in Karabakh on September 20, the deputy commander of the Russian contingent, Captain 1st Rank Ivan Kovgan, and several other servicemen were killed. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin for their deaths.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

It is reported that Ivan Kovgan was officially the deputy commander of the submarine forces of the Northern Fleet. He was sent to Nagorno-Karabakh two months ago.

Deputy Commander of the Russian Contingent, Captain 1st Rank Ivan Kovgan / Photo: Radio Liberty

The death of several members of the mission was reported by the Russian and Azerbaijani Ministries of Defense the day before.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on September 20, during the return from the observation post of the Russian contingent in the area of the settlement of Dzhanyatag, a car with Russian servicemen was fired upon from small arms.

"As a result of the shelling, Russian servicemen who were in the car were killed," the department said.

On September 21, according to the Kremlin propaganda resource TASS, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke on the phone with the president of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin, and during the conversation apologized for the deaths of Russian soldiers and expressed condolences.