The parents of Erik Hovsepyan, who died in the 44-day war, had to demolish the grave of their son killed in the 44-day war and rebury the body. Eric, who defended his homeland at the cost of his life, was buried on October 5, 2020 in his hometown of Taghavard. The village is in Martuni region. One month after the funeral, on November 9, it was announced that half of Eric’s birthplace had passed to the enemy. The cemetery of the village is left in the part passed to the Azerbaijani side. The parents crossed into Taghavard with the Russian peacekeepers and removed their son’s body.
“It was December 19, there were already Azeris in the village. With their permission, we left with the support of the Russian side. He is now buried in the Stepanakert fraternal cemetery,” said the mother, Anush Aleksanyan.
According to her, five bodies were removed from Taghavard cemetery that day.
The mother said that it was not possible to bury Eric in Stepanakert in October, as the enemy had intensively shelled the capital. The boy’s body was hardly taken to Taghavard in those days.
“Stepanakert was terribly shelled that day, it was impossible to bury it in the city. On the night of October 4, we somehow made it to Taghavard, no one was willing to bring it, because they were bombing. We barely found someone to drive” said Anush Aleksanyan.
Eric was the eldest son of the family and has one sister and one brother. The family was from Taghavardlived in Stepanakert. He was drafted into the army in 2019 and served in Martakert. During the war he was in a position a few kilometers away from Martakert. He died from an ATS strike on October 2, while going on a monitoring with the commander.
“Eric was the commander’s driver. The commander said, ‘Do not come, you are young, I will go and come.’ He said, ‘No, Commander, I will not leave you alone.’ He went with the commander, he might not have gone and been saved, but he went. It happened on October 2, “said the mother.
The mother last spoke to her son that day, an hour before he died. Eric’s body was found with difficulty after searching in all hospitals in Yerevan.
“I asked one of our friends to search. He called and said that he was in Yerevan’s morgue: they had sent him to Yerevan in confusion.”
Eric’s mother, Mrs. Anush, is a teacher. On the day of the war, she and her stidents were targeted by the enemy.
“That day I was taking my students on an excursion to Tatev. We were in Shushi when the war started. We stayed under shelling for two hours with the students — there were forests on the outskirts of Shushi — then we just went down to the city. There were no communication means for three hours. Then we contacted the commanders, they said Eric was fine. Then Eric called and said that everything was fine,” said the mother.
Erik Hovsepyan was posthumously awarded the “Combat Service” and “Courage” medals.
“Eric fell with the death of a hero, became a traveler of eternity. His heroism is immortal, his name is on our lips. Glory and honor to the holy martyrs of the 44-day war,” the mother concluded.
Narek Kirakosyan