“Erik's body has been in the Yeghegnadzor morgue since December 8; I've been searching for 10 months,” says the father of the fallen soldier.

“Erik had 100 days left until his discharge when the war started…” said Karen Gevorgyan, the father of 20-year-old Erik Gevorgyan, who fell during the 44-day war in Artsakh, in a conversation with “168.” Erik was from the Parakar community in the Armavir region and was the only son in the family. He had enlisted in January 2019, and after serving six months in one of Armenia's training military units, he was transferred to Artsakh, specifically to Hadrut.

“He was very pleased with his service, had a great attitude, was satisfied with everything, and never complained… My son was a driver-mechanic for a BMP. He was a full of life, cheerful person…” Erik's father recounted.

During the war that began on September 27, Erik reassured his parents that everything would be fine and there was no need to worry. However, two weeks into the conflict, communication was lost between Erik and his parents.

“From September 27 to October 14, we were in contact, and during that time, he only said that everything was fine, that the fighting would last for a couple of days and then would end... The last time he spoke with his mother was on October 14, saying they were being moved from Hadrut to Martuni, and that he would call when he arrived, and then there was no further contact…” Erik's father recalled, adding that months later he learned that his son had died on the road from Hadrut to Martuni. “During the transfer, their vehicle was attacked. There were 19 people in the car, one was killed on the spot, 12 soldiers were injured, and 6 others had panicked and got out of the vehicle, one of whom was Erik. Among those six soldiers, two were together, three were together, and one was alone… A person who panics doesn't understand what they are doing or where they are going… They got lost. They returned from the Fizuli area, walked about 25 kilometers and reached the Hadrut area… Erik was found in the village of Aigesdan, along with his friend from that village.”

Erik's body had been in one of the morgues in Armenia since December 2020, but his father was unaware of this. They received no information, and to search for his son, the father went to Artsakh on November 27, 2020, and stayed there until February 2021. “My son's complete body has been in the Yeghegnadzor morgue since December 8, but I didn't know. I just found Erik's body about 20 days ago… I've been searching for 10 months… They transferred it from the Yeghegnadzor morgue to the Medzamoran morgue, and from there it was brought to Yerevan’s Heratsi morgue. It was a complete body, but already unrecognizable; 4 DNA tests have been done… We have such a good government that they didn’t return my son’s body for so long. Even now, there are probably about 200 bodies still in Heratsi, Abovyan, Medzamor, and Sevan, and that's just the bodies. There are also remains yet to be identified. There are people who have found remains, just a piece of bone, that they believe belongs to their child, but the rest is missing. They are waiting for more remains to be confirmed so they can bury their children.”

Erik Gevorgyan was buried on August 20, 2021, at the Yerablur military cemetery.