Rafik Sahakyan last called his mother and friends two years ago these days. To this day, it is not known on which day and under what circumstances the conscript soldier, senior sniper was killed during the 44-day war.
Rafik’s mother, Varduhi Manuykan, left for Artsakh on November 9 and stayed there for seven months, organized the search for her son and the other boys, personally entered the morgues, checked every newly discovered remains and relics.
“Rafo served in Jarakan. On September 29, they retreated to Araler. He had a squad of 200 men with him. He was a soldier for only two months, but there were no officers with them, there was only one sergeant, and there was no one else,” says his mother.
During the siege, the mother was able to talk to her son on the phone. “They helped the wounded. I said: Raf, you can get out, get out, then we will send someone after the wounded boys. He said: ‘How can I leave them alone? oone is bleeding, the other is already in a very bad condition’… What happened next, no one could tell me. After eight months, we found my son’s remains.”
“If there were officers who have knowledge of their job standing next to our children, the number of grieving mothers would be less today…” says Rafik’s mother.
Ani Gevorgyan