Contract soldier Arman Mesropyan took part in the battles on the shores of the Araks river until October 15. He died saving his friend’s life, not knowing that his wife was expecting their second child.
Arman was from the village of Ghazarapat in the Kashatagh region of Artsakh. He got married in 2018 and had a son. Relatives say he was looking forward to celebrating his son’s first birthday on November 2. However, the war broke out, as a result of which the family lost first their house, all their property, and then their son.
“I do not know; this was not something to put up with. I cannot imagine any mother to come to terms with this. Or to feel some pride in it. There is no pride in this. For a mother, pride is when her children live next to her, in front of her eyes. Why do people keep telling me that I should be proud of this?” says Arman’s mother.
During the war, Arman often called home and inquired about his older brother, who was fighting in Hadrut at that time.
“The battles were fiercer in Hadrut at that time. He was worried. He said, call, let Zoro come home, let everything leave and return, it is very dangerous, there is nothing good, let at least him come home… We had no idea what would happen. He did not know that the danger was on his side, not on his brother’s.”
The residents of Ghazarapat village did not want to leave their homes until the last moment. “We did not leave. The whole village was not leaving. We did not imagine that we would have to empty the village. We thought it would be something like the Four-Day War… This was not a war, this was calamity, this was hell. I cannot imagine such a thing,” said the mother of the killed soldier.
Arman’s wife Tatev found out that she was pregnant on October 16. She waited impatiently for her husband’s next call to tell him the good news, but Arman did not call. It was later reported that he had died on October 15.
Arman Mesropyan’s father, Gegham, never reconciled with the loss of his son. Seven months later, the father also passed away. the father and the son are now buried in the cemetery of Arevshat village, Ararat region of Armenia.
Ani Gevorgyan