Russia Deploys New Attack Helicopters in Armenia

YEREVAN — Russia has deployed Seven advanced Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters and Mi-8MT Hip transport helicopters to Erebuni air base in Armenia. The helicopters were shipped from the military airdrome of the South Military District (SMD) in Krasnodar Krai.

The helicopters will sit alongside the MiG-29 fighters at the air base, the SMD said, adding that pilots would begin helicopter flights in a month.

The district’s Erebuni base was formed in 1995 and the MiG-29 Fulcrum multirole fighters were deployed there in 1998, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In July 2001, the units at Erebuni were incorporated into an air division of the Russian 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, Armenia.

Russia also has a military base in Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia in the northwestern part of the country close to the Armenian-Turkish border.

An additional batch of helicopters is expected to reach the base by the end of the year, the SMD said.