Armenia

The chief of staff of Armenia’s Chambarak military unit battalion has been arrested on charges of abusing power in connection with a recent incident in which seven soldiers were run over by a lorry outside of a military base, resulting in one fatality. The lorry driver was also arrested.

The military official was arrested amidst growing scrutiny over non-combat deaths in the Armenian army.

Four Armenian soldiers died in non-combat conditions in August. Besides the truck accident, one person was arrested and is suspected of having incited a fellow soldier to commit suicide. A 22-year-old soldier, Edgar Gevorgyan, was found dead from a gunshot wound, and the authorities have detained a suspect in his murder. An unnamed 37-year-old conscript soldier was found dead on his farm, but according to the Defence Ministry, the conditions of his death were not related to his service.

On 19 August, the Defence Ministry reported that a soldier was killed and several others were injured after a lorry hit them on the road in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province. Initially, the ministry did not clarify why the soldiers were on the road at that time or what had caused the incident. However, information circulated on social media alleging that the soldiers had been running along the road with gas masks as a punishment from their commander. The ministry has not confirmed this version of the story.

The lorry accident that killed Armenian soldier Suren Vardanyan happened near Vahan village on Wednesday. Vahan’s local head, Arshak Mkrtchyan, told RFE/RL that the truck hit the soldiers around 21:00, adding that the soldiers had been ‘running somewhere’ at the time.

Amid growing scrutiny over non-combat deaths in the Armenian army, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ordered two personnel adjustments in the army and established an interagency working group to develop systemic solutions to suicides and ‘non-statutory relations’. The working group led by Defence Minister Suren Papikyan held its first meeting on Wednesday.

The ministry stated that the group’s discussion examined the causes and contributing factors behind suicides, murders and non-statutory relationships, such as hazing and abuse, within the armed forces. Participants reviewed an inventory of issues identified by the various departments and state bodies represented on the commission, organised by sector. The session also emphasised the need for closer collaboration between the various departments that comprise the interdepartmental

Papikyan discussed the recent deaths on Monday, stating that although statistics are not a correct way to address the army deaths, historical army statistics demonstrate that suicides and similar cases have occurred consistently over the years due to criminal activities within the army. Papikyan claimed that the Defence Ministry did not get blamed for such deaths in the past.