I Didn't Believe It, I Asked If You Were Joking, He Said No, Your Sun Has Been Taken: What Relatives of Those Returned After a Day in Captivity Are Saying

On September 18, two residents of Kasakh, who went missing in the Vorotani section of the Goris-Kapan road, were returned the next day with the mediation of Russian border guards. They have not yet returned home but have spoken with their relatives via phone.

“I spoke with my husband late last night when the Russian border guards were transferring him to our territory. He said he was well and was being taken to Goris. I haven’t talked to him today; I don’t know where he is. The number he called from has been unreachable since yesterday. Now I'm waiting to see where he is; I hope it's in our area,” said Alina Geghamyan, the wife of 36-year-old Hakob Hakobyan.

She recounted that she learned of her husband's captivity through a Facebook live broadcast by scout Vova Vardanov, who announced that two residents of Kasakh had been kidnapped by Turks and that Russian border guards had gone after them.

“It was already clear to me that it was my husband and our other relative. I last spoke to my husband at 5 PM. I was supposed to take the kids to swimming, so I called to find out where he was, whether I should wait for him or not. He only said that he had been stopped by foreigners, and I asked if it was Azerbaijanis. He said yes. I didn’t believe it and asked if he was joking. He replied no, they had taken him, but he needed to sign some papers to be released. After that, his phone number became unreachable, and we have had no contact since,” Alina Geghamyan recounted.

Relatives Hakob Hakobyan, 36, and Aram Sargsyan, 20, were heading to Syunik so that Aram could visit his friend who serves in Kapan. In a conversation with us, Aram’s father, Hrach Sargsyan, stated that his son had been discharged two months earlier and participated in the 44-day war.

“In the morning, he told his mother he was going to visit a friend he served with. His friend is stationed in Kapan. He was going with one of our relatives in his car. The last time we spoke with them was at 5:35 PM, and after that, we couldn’t get in touch, which is why we got worried. There had been a fire in the village, and one of our uncle’s sons had called Aram without knowing he had gone to Goris. He was calling Aram to come and help put out the fire. That’s when we realized something had happened to Aram. My sister's son, Matevos, also called Aram. They spoke, but Aram said he was busy and would call back. Matevos sensed that something was off but couldn’t communicate any details. Then Aram turned off his phone. Matevos, feeling something was wrong, called back five minutes later, but it was already impossible to reach him,” Hrach Sargsyan shared.

The Sargsyan family first contacted the police and then the Ministry of Defense.

“We didn’t sleep that night. Then we went to Goris and reached out to our border guards, who told us to wait. We waited until about 5 AM, and then they said it wasn’t possible; they couldn’t take the kids. Losing hope, we came back, and they told us to go, that they would inform us further,” Hrach Sargsyan explained.

Aram has also not returned home yet but managed to speak with his mother. “He said he was okay, not to worry, but we still don’t know where their phones and car are. A little while ago, they called from the NSS (National Security Service), asking if we wanted to come and take our kids or if they would come by themselves. My brother's son, who went to Goris with me, has gone again to see the kids; he saw them, and they were fine; the important thing is that the kids are okay, the car doesn’t matter. They haven’t released the kids because they need to be questioned; they are now in Syunik,” said the father, adding, “Now I understand the situation of parents who have had their children taken; I didn’t understand it before, I felt sorry for them, but personally experiencing it, I realize what it is like. May such a thing never happen to my enemies,” Hrach Sargsyan said with tears in his eyes.

Regarding the circulating information that four people were captured rather than two, the families stated they are not aware of that, only knowing that two went.