“None of the 20 survived... communication with the artillery commander was lost, we hope he is alive and will answer our questions,” says the father of a fallen artilleryman

For over a year, the "Tsori" artillerymen have not been in contact with their families. On October 12, 2020, upon hearing the tragic news, relatives hoped for a miracle, believing at least some of the boys would be saved. Days after the incident, Azerbaijani media released videos showing the positions of the "Tsori" D-20 artillery unit, where the bodies of 10 servicemen were present. This information is reported by Factinfo.

Parents searched tirelessly for their heroes, immediately engaging in search operations and visiting various departments, but to no avail. Questions were numerous, yet answers were scant.

“The first time we entered the firing position, we did not find our boys; traces of the bodies were visible, but the bodies were missing. From there, we recovered the remains of five servicemen—buried fragments, but we received no information about the others. Later, we found two more boys, and a few days later, we located Samvel,” said the father of one of the heroes during the memorial service for nine of them.

The hero's parent noted that those days were painful for them, filled with the suffocating uncertainty. There was hope that at least some would be rescued and many questions would be answered. However, the resolution of those questions came in the worst possible way.

“After a long ordeal, the Azerbaijani side handed over the remains of our boys to us. None of the 20 survived. The artillery commander, Deputy Colonel Hayrapetyan, who was in touch the day after the incident, lost contact the following day and is now shrouded in uncertainty. We hope he is alive and can provide clarity regarding the situation,” he said.

During the 44-day war, the heroes fought for 15 days and nights, targeting enemy manpower and firepower. They would have continued to fight if it hadn’t been for the infamous misinformation regarding a moving group towards them. “Due to this erroneous information, the boys were suddenly caught in a diversionary group’s infiltration; the gunfire was replaced by automatic fire. They fought until their last breath, immortalizing themselves and never abandoning their firing position. They did not lose; instead, they fought against death and won,” the parent emphasized.

The servicemen fought to the last breath in the Ara mountain area. This tragedy has united the parents, and today, before bidding farewell to the heroes, the parents insisted they must continue the fight to provide a legal assessment of what happened and to ensure that the guilty parties are appropriately punished.