What kind of officers and commanders are unable or unwilling to prevent the toxic subculture that leads to soldier deaths due to phone anger?

The member of the National Assembly’s Prosperous Armenia faction, Naira Zohrabyan, made a post on her Facebook page addressing the recent incidents of death in the army. She specifically noted that on Tuesday, two joint closed sessions of the parliamentary committees on Human Rights Protection and Security will hear from the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff and several other officials.

“You are defeated when you do not spare the life of your soldier. Recently, I dreadfully open the news feed: almost every day there is a soldier's death, mostly classified as suicide. Two deaths in one day. In the last 43 days, there have been 10 deaths during non-combat activities, with 7 occurring in the last 13 days. And yesterday, again tragic news—another soldier has died. As a result, my deepest condolences to the family of the fallen soldier. Have you asked yourselves, do you need to offer your condolences to a mother who has lost her son? And in general, does anyone understand that this is a serious security challenge, and that using routine statements, such as the need for stricter adherence to military disciplinary regulations, will not solve this problem? To prevent the army from being targeted one day will be simply disastrous; this catastrophe must be halted, including through the most radical measures.

What kind of elite units are these, what kind of officers and commanders are they who cannot or will not prevent this toxic subculture from existing, so that, say, due to a phone anger, there are no ‘razbory’? Why are these commanders not able to prevent the emotional shocks of 19-20-year-olds, who are effectively children, resulting in casualties? Unfortunately, there are already horrifically too many. And yet another immodest question: how is it that no high-ranking military officer, who is responsible for the moral and psychological state of the unit, is sitting in a position of accountability? These are questions that should have been answered long ago. And let no one suddenly blame the soldiers’ parents, saying that the soldier was already in a certain mental destabilized state, or that he received a sad SMS from his beloved that day. Well, what are you there for? And let no one forget that if we do not spare the life of our officer and soldier, we are all defeated.

On Tuesday, in the joint closed session of our two committees on Human Rights Protection and Security in the National Assembly, we will hear from the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff and several other officials. These tragedies must be halted,” Zohrabyan wrote.