Armenia To Hand Over Lost Azerbaijani Serviceman To Baku

(MENAFN- AzerNews) The Armenian authorities decided to return the strayed Azerbaijani serviceman Ruslan Panahov to Azerbaijan.

According to Azernews, this was reported by the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

“As a sign of goodwill and in pursuance of the agreement reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the highest level that military personnel of both sides who got lost and ended up on the opposite side should be returned as soon as possible, Armenia decided to hand over Ruslan Panahov to the Azerbaijani side,” - the NSS press service said in a statement.

Let us recall that on the morning of February 28, a serviceman of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces Panahov Ruslan Eldeniz oglu, moving between service positions in the Lachin region, went astray, losing the direction of movement under unfavorable weather conditions.

The Armenian side soon issued a statement in which it announced the detention of an Azerbaijani soldier who had crossed the conventional border.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case against Ruslan Panahov on charges of“attempted sabotage,”“illegal possession of weapons and ammunition,” as well as“attempted murder motivated by racial and religious intolerance.”

Later, the Investigative Committee of Armenia announced the termination of the criminal case against Ruslan Panahov.

The Armenian side also admits that the Azerbaijani serviceman, previously arrested on trumped-up charges, got lost. It is noted that“factual data” have been received that Panakhov got lost and ended up near Armenian positions.

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