Contract Soldier Went Missing, MoD Concealed Information: Abrahamyan

During a parliamentary press conference, member of the National Assembly from the "I Have Honor" faction Tigran Abrahamyan stated, "It became clear during the last four-day session of the NA that the Minister of Defense is unaware of how many combat losses occurred in 2021." He noted that aside from the servicemen killed or captured due to Azerbaijani provocations last year, there were cases of death in the army due to non-statutory relations.

Abrahamyan also emphasized that it was confirmed that a contract soldier went missing in November 2021, which the Ministry of Defense did not report. "The Ministry of Defense is doing everything to keep such cases from becoming public," said the opposition lawmaker, noting that there are signals from the authorities that publicizing information unfavorable to them could lead to criminal cases being initiated.

"There are numerous issues in the armed forces that naturally cannot be publicly discussed; there are topics that should not be made public, but the authorities are trying to take advantage of this situation and completely seal the system, preventing any information from being released. This is not only a problem for the Armenian society; it is also an issue for soldiers and their families. I encounter numerous cases where the rights of servicemen are violated, yet these are not made public, and the problems raised do not receive solutions," Abrahamyan stated.

He emphasized that one of the crucial post-war issues is the restoration of the armed forces, as Armenia incurred significant losses in ammunition during the war. "Moreover, a new situation has arisen around us in terms of defense and security, and inevitably, there needs to be a modernization of the armed forces in this context," he stated.

The MP highlighted that the ministers of defense who served briefly announced that there is a concept for armed forces reforms, but a year later, no such concept has been seen. "The state budget for 2022 has been established, yet the issue of armed forces reforms is not included in the military budget. This means that on one hand, we have the problem of reforms in the armed forces, but in reality, the government is not taking any serious steps for their implementation," he pointed out.