Part of the Salaries of Soldiers Captured on November 16 Not Transferred to Their Families: "Factinfo"

Part of the salaries of soldiers captured on November 16 and currently in Baku has not been transferred, and moreover, the state has not provided compensation payments of 300,000 drams to the families. This was reported to "Factinfo" by the wife of a captured contract serviceman.

She noted that the Red Cross visited the captured servicemen held in Baku and confirmed their captivity, but the Ministry of Defense has not provided official confirmations to the families. Without confirmation from the Ministry of Defense, the families cannot receive one-time support, and the process is being delayed.

“The salary for November has been received only partially. They fell into captivity on the 16th. They were supposed to receive 63,000 drams on the 23rd, but that was not given. Then on the 3rd, they were supposed to receive 180,000 drams, but I only received around 130,000. I don't know how they calculated it. It is now unclear whether they will receive the 13th salary or not. They fell into captivity related to this; after verification, a one-time payment of 300,000 drams was supposed to be made, but the state does not confirm their captivity. The Red Cross has confirmed it, but we have not received any official calls from the Ministry of Defense saying, ‘Your son is captured, it has been confirmed.’ The Red Cross says they have seen and talked, but we can’t find out anything else. If it is confirmed, they should pay, but they are delaying,” shared the wife of the captured soldier.

After the meeting between Pashinyan, Michel, and Aliyev in Brussels, relatives hoped that those captured on November 16 would return home, but they currently still have no information about the process.

“There has been talk of an agreement to bring the captives back, but we are not told anything specific. Until now, no one responds when we call. I don’t know where the work stands. If work was being done, there would at least be information from somewhere. Several days have passed since the meeting, and there is no information. We are trying to contact, but it is not successful, and we cannot get any information from the Ministry of Defense, the government, or the NSS,” noted the wife of the captured soldier.

She also mentioned that following the meeting, instead of returning the captured soldiers, the President of Azerbaijan spoke mockingly about returning the captives, claiming that if they returned, they would be arrested and tortured in Armenia.

“Now it has come to the point that Aliyev said he would send the captives back only to have them tried, and they would get tortured in Armenia. He deliberately does not send the boys back, supposedly thinking about the Armenian soldier. I believe that also affects the lack of information about the boys,” she stated.

Red Cross representatives visited all the military captives confirmed by the authorities in Baku in December, and for the first time met with those captured in November, helping them establish contact with their relatives.

“The Red Cross has told us, ‘We have done what we could.’ But the responsibility for bringing them back lies with the Ministry of Defense and the NSS, they have no information regarding when or how the boys will come back,” she added.

Among the captives are also individuals from Shirak, who are regularly reported to the regional administration, which only indicates that answers will be provided soon.

“As far as we understand, no one is truly concerned about this issue. Even today, no one has responded from anywhere. They give us hopes that all captives will return by the end of the month, but if nothing happens again, and this continues until the end of the month, we will naturally reach Yerevan,” concluded a relative of the captured soldier.