A Russian military helicopter was shot down Monday in Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan, the defence ministry in Moscow said, killing two crew members. The ministry said in a statement that the Mi-24 helicopter was hit by a man-portable air defence system close to the border with Azerbaijan, whose forces are fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. A third person was injured and evacuated, it said. as/mm/lc