1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown
The 1991 Azerbaijan MI-8 helicopter shootdown, also known as the Karakend tragedy in Azerbaijan, occurred on November 20, 1991, when an Azerbaijani MI-8 military helicopter, carrying a peacekeeping mission team consisting of 13 Azerbaijani government officials, 2 Russian and 1 Kazakhstani Ministry of Internal Affairs officials, 3 Azerbaijani journalists and 3 helicopter crew was shot down amidst heavy fighting near the Karakend village of Khojavend district in Nagorno-Karabakh. All 22 people on board were killed in the crash.
Background
In accordance with the Zheleznovodsk communique initiated by Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and their subsequent shuttle diplomacy visit to the region in September 1991, officials from Russia and Kazakhstan were placed in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast for an observation mission. On the eve of the crash, the Armenian side refused to continue the peace talks with Azerbaijan until Azerbaijan re-opened the natural gas supply to Armenia, which it cut off on November 4. The team of observers along with representatives of Azerbaijani government were to fly from Agdam to Khojavend due to rising tension in the district.Shootdown
The helicopter MI-8 with the peacekeeping team departed from Agdam with 22 people on board and was shot down en route by Armenian attack using a group of ZSU-23-4 Shilka and SA-6 missiles, killing everyone on board. The attack on the helicopter disrupted the ongoing peace talks.Various conspiracy theories about the incident have since been in circulation, and are promoted by various political figures in Azerbaijan, who say the shootdown was a political assassination. Despite an absence of official investigation evidence, such theories are considered credible by a significant part of the Azerbaijani population.
;List of victims
| Full name | Position |
| Tofig Ismayilov Kazim oglu | Secretary of State, Azerbaijan |
| Ismat Gayibov Ismayil oglu | Public Prosecutor General, Azerbaijan |
| Mahammad Asadov Nabi oglu, | Minister of Internal Affairs, State Advisor, Azerbaijan |
| Zulfi Hajiyev Saleh oglu | Deputy Prime Minister, Azerbaijan |
| Osman Mirzayev Mirza Huseyn oglu | Head of Presidential Administration, journalist, Azerbaijan |
| Ali Mustafayev Mustafa oglu | Journalist, Azerbaijani State TV |
Investigation
Initial reports by central state agency TASS claimed the helicopter flew into fog and crashed into a hill. On November 21, the chairman of the crash investigation committee announced over TV that the helicopter was shot at by large caliber weapons and the weapons and video equipment were stolen from the site of the incident. At 6:30 PM, the same day, the deputy Chief of Command of Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs of USSR, Vyacheslav Ponomarev left for Agdam. The Interior Ministry officials declared they would not withdraw the internal troop detachments from the district due to escalation of the conflict. The investigation committee was also to determine where the victims would be buried. However, because the area of the crash was soon captured by Armenian militants, the investigation was suspended and no one was indicted.The investigation was initiated for clarifying the reasons for the crash. The first version was transferred by TASS referring to the commander's special area of NKAO: helicopter exploded, sprung upon a rock in the fog. However, an investigation found holes in the fuselage consistent with the explosion of a rocket. Investigation Commission Chairman Adil Agayev said that the helicopter was shot down from the ground by a large-caliber weapon, video equipment and weapons from the crash site were removed. Armenians denied any involvement, although they were blamed immediately for the incident. In response to Agayev the deputies of the USSR from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Zori Balayan, Victor Hambardzumyan, Henrik Igityan, Sos Sargsyan accused Central television of bias and hinted at the uninvolvement of Armenians in the crash. According to American researcher Michael P. Croissant, it appeared to be an Armenian rocket attack.