We Failed to Assess the Soldier's Mental State on Time: Tonoyan on the Soldier Killed the Day Before

Each soldier's death is a severe loss for Armenia and has a heavy moral and psychological impact on the army. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Armenia, Davit Tonoyan, during a conversation with reporters today.

It should be reminded that on July 21, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, reported that the body of private Hamik Yeghia Vardanyan, born in 2000, was found at one of the combat positions of the Armenian Armed Forces. The serviceman had sustained injuries in the frontal area.

As Tonoyan noted, there is currently a noticeable decrease in the number of deaths in the army. However, there are also shortcomings that prevented the timely understanding of how severely the deceased soldier was affected psychologically.

“We should have worked better. Appropriate instructions have now been given, and I cannot comment in detail as an investigation is underway,” added the minister.

It is worth noting that a criminal case has been initiated in connection with the incident under the first part of Article 110 of the RA Criminal Code (causing a person to commit suicide or a suicide attempt through indirect intent or negligence).