I Received a Short but Very Brutal SMS: 'We Are in the Fight' - Karen Hovhannisyan

Military analyst Karen Hovhannisyan wrote on his Facebook page: “I woke up at night and checked the time on my phone. It was 02:27... Sleep wouldn't come; it seemed that something or someone was preventing me from sleeping. I was restless but did not know why... I close my eyes, trying to sleep... It doesn't work, so I reach for my phone again, and the screen shows it’s 02:35... I log into Facebook; it looks normal, nothing unusual... I get out of bed and go to the kitchen, calling the guys, hoping to hear from them... The call is going through, but nobody answers, so I try again, still no answer... After a minute or two, they became unreachable; everyone I called was unavailable... I send a text: 'Brat, if you have communication, text me to see how you are...'

All night, I was tormented and couldn't sleep. It was almost dawn outside when the light on my phone turned on—a response SMS, short but very brutal: 'We are in the fight.'

I logged into Facebook; everything seemed calm... Now, who should I call or text... What fight? A diversion? Have they come on the positions? What kind of fight is this, so what does it mean? A bit later, the second SMS arrives: 'It's a battle.'

... 'A large-scale attack all along the border,' an early morning message stated. No, this can't be real; this must be a dream, I’m asleep, dreaming all this... No, it's not a dream; I have already spoken, and it’s war, not just a battle—it’s war, not just military actions, because civilians have been killed, because they are asking for a place for the residents of Talish, because the 'Niva' has been hit in a thousand places while transporting women and children... My contacts did not reach out again until I arrived and received news on the ground... ”