Video: Deputy Minister of Defense on Incident with Soldier at Kapan Military Unit

The investigation regarding the soldier's voluntary departure from one of the military units in Kapan has been initiated, said the Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia, Arman Sargsyan, during a conversation with reporters.

He noted that an assessment will also be made regarding the circumstances that led the soldier to leave the military unit voluntarily. “If it is found that the raised alarm corresponds to reality, there will be severe punishments, because we are also concerned about such issues in recent times,” said the deputy minister.

He stated that the entire Ministry of Defense is interested in clarifying the truth, and if violence has occurred, we will see the consequences of that. According to him, they have information about the whereabouts of the soldier.

It should be noted that the MP from the “I Have Honor” faction, Taguhi Tovmasyan, has received an alert that the commanding staff at one of the military units in Kapan has belittled and subjected the recruit to violence, forcing him to clean the restroom, after which the recruit fled.

The recruit’s relatives have stated that he was drafted into the army on January 31, and on the morning of February 1, he and two other soldiers were forced to clean, which they refused to do, resulting in them being beaten, and they were not allowed to use the canteen, sleep, drink water, and so on. The soldier established contact with his relatives, explained the circumstances, after which communication with the soldier was lost; he had fled, and the second soldier alerted about the beating.