Most Injuries and Deaths Were Fragmentation-Related: Reservist Officer

According to the 'Iravunk' newspaper, reservist officer and economist Arthur Grigoryan stated that during the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh, there was not a single location where issues did not arise regarding both weaponry and human resources, as well as uniforms. As a result, we face the consequences we have, whereas we were capable of avoiding such outcomes.

“Problems emerged from the very first day of the war. Among the most critical was the issue of body armor and helmets, as well as military footwear. The majority of injuries and fatalities occurred due to a lack of body armor or helmets, meaning that most injuries and deaths were fragmentation-related. The issue is that budget allocations from the state budget and generally in every aspect created problems. For instance, the cost of one piece of body armor was stated as 250,000 drams in the Defense Ministry’s accounts, while right now I can say that there are quite effective body armors available for 130,000 drams that are significantly better in quality. However, during the war, representatives of the current government invited us to the battlefield wearing our own body armor and uniforms.

But we have 70,000 active military personnel and 210,000 in reserve, which means that based on a minimum calculation of 280,000, our Ministry of Defense should have had an adequate quantity of both body armor and helmets, along with uniforms and everything, including bush hats.”