“They thought a war had started”: Russian soldiers began shooting without warning during a training exercise in an Armenian village

In the village of Panik, Shirak region of Armenia, Russian military personnel conducted exercises on July 17, about which no one warned local residents. Therefore, many of them decided that a war had begun - they panicked and ran out into the streets, gripped by fear.

Фото: Depositphotos

Later it turned out that the bullets and mines were training, an official investigation of the incident is being carried out, writes “Currently,".

During an exercise in the village of Panik, several dozen servicemen from the 102nd Russian military base blocked the road and started shooting. The locals were horrified. According to the head of the village, several children lost consciousness from the sounds of shots and explosions.

The villagers demanded that the commander explain on the basis of what order the Russian military personnel conducted exercises without warning on the territory of another state. They reported the incident to the National Security Service of the country and called the police.

“The military said that they were doing their military work and were not obliged to provide us with a document,” said the head of the village, Vardan Makeyan.

The deputy commander of the 102 Russian military base, Alexey Palyukhovich, said that the situation was being investigated.

“The exercises were carried out as part of increasing the combat readiness of the military base. And what was wrong, we will inform you about the results of the investigation,” he said.

The day after the Palyukhovich incident received the governor Shirak region. The Russian military apologized and assured that this would not happen again.

“They said that there was a force majeure situation, there seemed to be no order, everything was unorganized, for which they apologized. An internal investigation is underway,” the governor said.

But at a reception at the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, representatives of the 102nd military base of Russia statedthat the event was part of the base preparation program for 2018 and was agreed upon in advance with the Armenian side. When choosing the location for the exercises, the military simply “did not take into account all the circumstances.” The Russian side officially apologized.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers the Panic incident “a provocation against Armenian-Russian friendly relations and a provocation against the sovereignty of Armenia.”

“I believe that those responsible must be identified and brought to justice,” he said on July 19.

According to the Armenian-Russian interstate agreement, the 102nd military base must warn local governments, the police and the National Security Service of Armenia in advance about the route of movement of troops. It has no right to conduct exercises anywhere except training grounds.

The locals also complain on the movement of military equipment of the Russian military base, which disables roads. However, the Russian side does not compensate for this damage.

In addition, the fields will ripen the harvest. One flash, which can occur during the exercise, is enough to start a fire, villagers say.

Residents of Panik are outraged by what is happening and appeal to the government to take action.

They recalled that in 2013 two children died, blown up by a mine on the territory of the training ground of the Russian military base in the village of Vahramaberd, as well as about the murder of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri in 2015 year - then a Russian soldier killed five people and two young children.

At the 102nd base in Gyumri, there are about 5 Russian soldiers of the ground and air forces. In 2010, Armenia and Russia signed an agreement to extend the base's lease until 2044.

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