1000 Different Sizes of Tires Sent to the Border from Gyumri

On the day of the May triad holidays, the first batch of collected tires – 1000 tires of various sizes – was sent from Gyumri to the border, heading towards the northeastern and southwestern directions. According to shantnews.am, the initiative's author is Zhora Abgaryan from Gyumri, who is the brother of tank driver Tigran Abgaryan, who was killed in the April War.

The idea of collecting tires and sending them to the defensive borders of Artsakh and Armenia came to Zhora after his first visit in 2016 to the position where his brother served. He recounts, “When I went to Artsakh and toured the positions, I noticed the observation posts made from tires, which the soldiers and officers emphasized were crucial. They said that if all observation posts were made with tires, then security would be more assured. I returned to Gyumri and decided from that day to start collecting tires. All my acquaintances, my father, my brother's friends, and even strangers got involved in this effort, and a few months later, we sent the first batch to the border.”

Most of the tires are provided by vulcanizations; they report that there is a collected batch, while the volunteers drive around collecting and centralizing unusable tires that are essential for the army. “We collect tires in one place with the help of volunteer boys in this effort. Then, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and the Defense Army provide logistics trucks, with which we transport the tires to the positions, and the engineering specialists continue the process there,” he explains.

According to the initiative's author, covering the trenches and foxholes with tires is one of the guarantees of safety. They are filled with soil and arranged in a specific layout around the observation posts, providing maximum protection to soldiers from enemy bullets. “We have already sent thousands of tires to the front lines; we are reinforcing the positions located on the front line, and in some areas, the work has already reached the second and third lines. Months after sending each batch, I visit the positions and see the work accomplished. The only goal of all the participants in this initiative and myself is to protect the lives of our soldiers,” he emphasizes.

Zhora is inspired by the involvement of teenagers and schoolchildren in the tire collection and transportation process. Students from senior schools in Gyumri constantly volunteer to assist the initiative. The initiative “Tigran Abgaryan” combat training club for tire collection has long gone beyond Gyumri and Shirak region, spreading to other parts of the republic and Yerevan. To date, over 22,000 tires have been sent to the border – about 200 trucks, with an additional 50 trucks expected to reach the positions in Armenia and Artsakh in the coming days.