“If the journalists were killed moving through the territories where they were allowed to be, and where there was no risk of being blown up, then the mine placed there was a sabotage and terror attack. Armenia's refusal to issue maps of minefields is a disgrace. It should be one of the main requirements of Azerbaijan,” Russian political scientist, journalist, TV presenter, and public figure Maxim Shevchenko told the Russian bureau of Report.
The expert noted that mines were chaotically planted in Karabakh: “This is understandable, even if you look at how the Armenians behaved in Azerbaijani cities and villages, at the landscape of Aghdam, razed to the ground like Hiroshima, at the chaos in the previously occupied territories.”
“Azerbaijan should prepare an international white paper, a collection on the results of war crimes. There is a White Paper on the crimes of the Nazis, following the war in Iraq, for example. I believe that such a white paper should be compiled based on the occupation of Karabakh,” Shevchenko suggested.
He also expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the media representatives killed in the Kalbajar district.
At about 11.00 am on June 4, 2021, a Kamaz passenger car with employees of TV channels and news agencies dispatched to the de-occupied Kalbajar region for the performance of their official duties was hit by an anti-tank mine while driving in the direction of the Susuzlug village. Three people, including Siraj Abishov (cameraman of AzTV), Maharram Ibrahimov (employee of AzerTaj news agency), Arif Aliyev (deputy representative of the head of the Executive Power in the Susuzlug village), died, and four others were hospitalized with various injuries.