0 8000 12 11

According to the data of the RA Ministry of Defense, at around 3.30 pm on July 24, 2018, the corpse of ordinary serviceman-combat soldier Zhorik /patronymic name: Vahag/ Petrosyan (born in 1999) was found in the combat position of one of the RA military units located in the south west. There was a gunshot wound in the head.

According to the information published by the RA Investigative Committee, the serviceman received a fatal gunshot wound in the facial area due to a breach by a co-serviceman of the rules for handling weapons. On July 24, a criminal case was initiated at the 8th Garrison Investigation Division of the General Military Investigation Department under Article 373 § 3 of the RA Criminal Code.

Yesterday, on July 26, HCA Vanadzor employees met with Samvel Petrosyan, deceased serviceman Zhorik Petrosyan’s brother, in order to receive information.

The serviceman was drafted 6 months ago, in January 2018, from the Regional Military Commissariat of Spitak. He was serving in the military unit in Vayk. Zhorik Petrosyan resided in Gogaran Village together with his family.

According to his brother, nearly a month ago, a leave was provided to Zhorik Petrosyan. During that leave, the serviceman did not voice any complaints about his service.

After returning from his leave, on July 22, Zhorik Petrosyan was involved in combat duty for the first time in accordance with his own wish, as stated by his brother. The very next day, at around 5.30-6.00 pm on July 23, the serviceman’s mother was talking to her son on the phone when she heard a loud voice of a man, which was followed by a loud noise, “a bang”, and the phone call was cut off. After this, the relatives did not manage to establish contact with him.

On July 24, the Regional Military Commissar of Spitak informed his relatives of the serviceman’s death. The following day, the corpse of the deceased was transferred to the village by several people, namely the deputy on works conducted with the staff of the military unit in Vayk, 2 other officers, 2 co-servicemen, 2 people from the Military Police and 1 Traffic Police officer, who was accompanying the others. They had a very brief conversation with the serviceman’s father for about 5 minutes and then left.

During the examination of the corpse, at which the serviceman’s relatives were present, two small scratches were identified on the right side of his forehead.

The morgue officer showed them the existing injuries on the serviceman’s forehead and in the hairy section just above the ear. According to the morgue officer, those injuries were indicative of a blow with a blunt object, which is, however, a supposition. This circumstance makes the serviceman’s relatives disbelieve the official version on the breach of the rules for handling weapons. Apart from that, the serviceman’s brother challenges that version, taking into consideration the distance between the diseased serviceman and the one using the weapon and the position of the shotgun wound.

As stated by Samvel Petrosyan, during the forensic medical examination, one of the officers who had arrived in Yerevan from the military unit in Vayk, in response to the question on how the incident occurred, stated that “at the time of the incident, Zhorik Petrosyan was in charge of communication. His co-serviceman who was to be awake to perform combat duty in the dug-out left his position earlier than he was supposed to in order to go wash himself. In the meantime, Zhorik Petrosyan unloaded the ammunition box of the SVD rifle belonging to the co-serviceman, mistakenly leaving one bullet in it. Having returned, the co-serviceman asked Petrosyan whether he had unloaded the ammunition box of the rifle. He gave a positive response. Afterwards, for a yet unknown reason, the co-serviceman fired a shot, which touched Zhorik Petrosyan on the face and got out in the same direction from the back, resulting in two holes.”

Samvel Petrosyan supposes that, at the moment of the shot being fired, Zhorik Petrosyan was in a position lower than the person shooting, and his head was tilted. Incidentally, from the back, there was not one, but two holes in the section of the shoulder blade. According to the supposition of the forensic doctor, it was connected with the bone being injured due to the bullet strike, as a result of which the second wound in the section of the shoulder blade damaged the bone.

It seems strange to Samvel Petrosyan that the commander of the detachment was not with the servicemen when they were performing combat duty in the combat position. The captain of the position and 6-7 other servicemen were there. According to Samvel Petrosyan, the captain of the position, who is directly responsible for the servicemen in the combat position, was not among those who visited them from the military unit all this time. No details are provided about him. Moreover, on July 25, one of the officers of the military unit met with the serviceman’s brother separately, and, in response to Samvel Petrosyan’s question on where the captain of the post was at that moment, the officer informed that he was close to him and, as Samvel Petrosyan assumed from their conversation, tried to make him understand that, as there was a person arrested in that case, there was no need to involve any other persons in the case.

The serviceman’s funeral is to be held today, on July 27, 2018.