Venera Hovsepyan was born in Talish village of Martakert region of Artsakh. She married Edward from Stepanakert, with whom they lived in the capital, brought up their three sons together and raised them with great difficulties in the 1990s. The Artsakh movement of 1988 turned into a struggle for survival, in which the next generations of Artsakh citizens also took part. Mrs. Venera’s three sons also participated in all Artsakh wars, but 34-year-old Mkhitar was martyred, sacrificing his life for the defense of the motherland.
During the 44-Day War, of 2020, Mkhitar Hovsepyan was wounded in the battle positions of Karmir Shuka. They tried to take him to the hospital in an ambulance, but an enemy anti-aircraft missile shot down the car near the village of Machkalashen. The driver and seven injured, including Mkhitar, were burned on the spot.
“My son called us on November 1 and told that everything was fine with him, but he warned us not to call, he said, ‘I will be unavailable.’ My heart couldn’t stand it, half an hour later I called again and he was really unavailable. Later it turned out that that day was his last battle. I was not informed about his death. My relatives tried to convince me that Mkhitar was injured, but he was killed and they were looking for his body in the morgues. But I was very anxious, my heart foreboding something bad. During that time, my relatives applied for DNA research several times, and, on December 7, the test samples matched and they found his body…”, the mother said, restraining her excitement.
Mkhitar Hovsepyan was buried in Stepanakert. His little girl turned one a month after her father’s death. Mkhitar was waiting a lot for that day; he intended to celebrate his daughter’s birthday, but all his wishes remained unfulfilled. Mkhitar’s young wife, Laura continues to live with her husband’s parents with her daughter. In Stepanakert, the family was supported and Mkhitar’s father’s house was repaired with state funds so that they could continue to live in their native land with normal social living conditions. But in 2023, the war of September 19 and subsequent developments turned upside down the last hopes and dreams of Artsakh Armenians to live in their historical homeland.
“On September 19, our day turned black again. My son, Gagik, was a contract soldier and had just entered the house to eat something when the explosions started. He did not eat; he turned back and ran to the place of service. Mkhitaris’ daughter was in kindergarten at that time. My husband rushed there in the car of one of our relatives and brought our grandson. We didn’t have a basement and, to take shelter from the heavy shelling, we immediately ran and entered a hole dug outside. The explosions and military operations were so intense that we rushed to the neighbor’s basement, where other neighbors came running as well. We stayed there for two nights with 30-40 people. It felt like the explosions were next to us, we were on the battlefield. It was a terrible situation,” said the 65-year-old woman.
After the cease-fire, the population of Artsakh was in uncertainty and chaos due to complete lack of communication, electricity and gas supply. They had no information from each other, as well as from their family members in military service. The situation was unmanageable due to lack of fuel and food. A part of the population rushed to the airport, hoping that the Russian peacekeepers would help. Mrs. Venera’s family also stayed at the airport for two days. In those nightmarish days, when the last hopes of staying in the homeland were extinguished, the Armenians of Artsakh were forced to relocate.
According to our interlocutor, they were displaced from Stepanakert on September 25 and reached Goris only in the evening of the 29th. “We did not take anything from the house. Seven of us somehow got into the car and drove away, leaving everything behind. It was a terrible situation… rain and thunder, children were constantly crying. We moved forward half a per every hour. We ran out of fuel before we reached Goris and asked people to help us. We arrived in Armenia with great difficulty and initially lived in the village of Jraberd for two months, but it was not possible to endure the cold winter with small children and we moved to Charentsavan,” said the mother who lost her son.
Now seven people live in a 2-room [one bedroom] apartment in Charentsavan. They still have many problems. There was only one bed in the apartment for seven people, the refrigerator is old and broken, one of the relatives provided a used washing machine to the displaced family. “My daughters-in-law and young children cannot solve their employment problem. We, too, are retired disabled persons, in poor health, and we are not able to reach out to them. As a result of a stroke, it is difficult for me to walk and lead an active lifestyle. After the death of my son, I suffer from hypertension and diabetes. We buy the medicines. In Stepanakert, they were issued by state order, but they are not issued here. Our situation is getting worse day by day,” Mrs. Venera added at the end.
Zara Mayilyan