Ten Meters Apart, It Blasted Between Us: 18-Year-Old Sasun Died in Front of His Father

Sasun's cheerful laughter briefly pierces the wall of grief that the Movsisyan family lives behind after the loss of their son. Such was Sasun—vivacious and humorous. He was the eldest son of a couple from Akhnalich, drafted to the military eight months before the war, serving in a demining platoon in Hadrut.

Upon hearing of the war on September 27, his father, Sevak, voluntarily went to Artsakh to be by his son's side. “I called and said I was trying to reach him. He said everything was normal. When I was nearing Stepanakert, I called again, and he answered, saying: everything is normal, don’t worry, it’s just not a good time to talk,” Sevak recounts to NEWS.am. “I said, ‘If that’s the case, hold tight, I’ll be there in about an hour, an hour and a half.’ He replied: ‘Dad, turn back, you can’t make it here, they might hit you by the time you arrive; I don’t want you to come.’”

Sevak arrived at the location and was met by the boys waiting for him. His speech breaks frequently as he reflects on the last days spent with his son. Sadly, Sevak's act of selflessness to protect his son on the front line could not save Sasun's life; he fell in front of his father on October 4. “When the commanders were coming, we didn’t speak in front of the kids. The commander came, we entered a building to talk, and it blasted. It was like we were about ten meters apart, and it blasted right between us. I was inside the building, it collapsed, and when I came out, I saw,” recalls Sasun’s father.

Along with Sasun, three other servicemen were killed in the shelling, and just hours later, the area fell under Azerbaijani control. Sevak returned home with the body of his 18-year-old son. Before the war, Sasun had gone on a critical mission with his friends, which he was to be recognized for.

“When the war started, they went early in the morning to the neutral zone and completed a mission to prevent heavy machinery from passing. They closed a route that could allow the Azerbaijanis to enter freely. They concealed themselves and completed the job, hitting a vehicle with a drone; his friends were killed before his eyes. But they didn’t let them flee, they organized themselves, kept the vehicles in specific locations, and descended on foot,” Sevak explains.

The Movsisyan family is not the only one from their community that has lost a young life to war. In the small community of Akhnalich in the Armavir region, there are nine casualties—three regular soldiers, while the others are volunteers and reservists.

Hero Sasun's father's words and conversation are available on the original source's website.