YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Lt. Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan – the crew of the military SU-25 jet that crashed during a training flight – were buried with full military honors in the Yerablur Pantheon military cemetery.

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, caretaker Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan, Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces Artak Davtyan and other officials were in attendance.

“On December 4, we lost two brothers-in-arms, two defenders of the nation,” Davtyan said. “Assuming the sacred mission of defending the nation is a decision that each makes on his own. Each flight of a pilot is a heroic act, that requires absolute concentration of will and strengths. They made their final flight on December 4,” he said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan