Soldiers Trapped While Moving Between Positions in 'Ural' Due to Already Surrendered Territory, Relative of Captured Service Member Says

As a result of our own investigation and communication among ourselves, we have learned that on November 16, during aggressive actions unleashed by Azerbaijan in the sovereign territory of Armenia, 12 service members from the army unit in Jermuk were captured. This was reported in an interview with Tert.am by a relative of one of the captured service members, who wished to remain anonymous to protect the identifying information of the captive soldier.

According to him, some of those captured that day are from the Jermuk army unit, while others are from Vanadzor's 'Duts' unit. 'The soldiers were raised to the positions for one day in Jermuk, the operations unfolded in two main positions, and while moving from one position to another in an 'Ural', the soldiers were trapped because it had already been surrendered,' he said.

The relative of the captured soldier noted that since November 16, they have contacted the commissions dealing with issues of captives, but there have been no visible results. 'The first to deal with this should be the commission on captives created by the Ministry of Defense, which has been silent. Specific numbers are not made public regarding how many people have been captured. We go to the Ministry of Defense requesting information, they send us to the captives' commission, where they are just filling out information, merely recording names and surnames. There is no agency we haven't contacted — the Red Cross, the Ombudsman's Office, the Investigative Committee, representatives of the ECHR in Armenia,' he stated, emphasizing that the problem lies in the state's failure to clarify how many captives there are.

'I have established through my own investigation that only 12 people from the Jermuk army unit have been captured, and I believe that this should not be difficult for the Captives Commission to clarify. The Prime Minister is announcing 'blurred' numbers — '24+8' captives, but it is unclear where those 24 were captured from, and where the 8 are from. It seems they do not want to publish a clear number, but there should be precise figures to demand their return from Azerbaijan. If they do not publish, do not file requests, how will they demand it? In that case, the return process is also put into question,' said the brother of the captured soldier, noting that he is in contact with the relatives of the 12 captured service members, and hence the number is known.