Artsakh President Bako Sahakian on Thursday awarded Artsakh Army soldiers for bravery and service for their role in thwarting aggression by Azerbaijan, namely an effort to breach the line of contact on September 22 and the downing of an Israeli-made Azerbaijani drone two days later.

Sahakian was attending military drills that have been taking place in Artsakh since late last month and during a special ceremony he awarded servicemen Armen Babayan and Emil Nersisyan the medal of Service in Combat for their bravery and courage demonstrated in rebuffing an effort by Azebaijani troops to breach the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border during a reconnaissance mission on September 22.

During the same ceremony, Sahakian awarded servicemen Paruyr Amirkhanyan and Rafik Ordoyan for shooting down an Israeli-made Azerbaijani “Orbiter -2″ drone, which violated Artsakh’s airspace on September 25.

Artsakh Defense Minister and Army Commander Lieutenant-General Karen Abrahamyan briefed Sahakian about the military drills, as well as the current situation on the borders.