Five Captured, Twelve Killed, and Twenty-Four Missing Due to Chief of Staff Deputy's 'Retreat' Order

The Armenian Armed Forces are currently investigating allegations of official misconduct, negligence, and abuse of power following a criminal case handled by the Special Investigation Service (SIS). This inquiry was initiated after the Prosecutor General’s Office uncovered sufficient evidence of apparent criminal actions committed by several high-ranking officials during the state of emergency.

Specifically, it has been established that A.M., the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, was appointed as the commander of a military detachment under the combat order of the Chief of the General Staff. On October 21, 2020, at around 08:00 AM, upon receiving information that a unit led by commander A.A. had been surrounded near the beginning of the city of Khovsakan, A.M., as the commanding officer and the one directly responsible for the execution of the combat mission, failed to organize reconnaissance operations with scouting teams, which could have identified potential enemy movement routes and allowed for targeted fire against the diversionary-reconnaissance group.

Refusing to send assistance to A.A.’s group, he ordered his personnel to 'Retreat'. As a result, in a disproportionately unequal battle against the enemy, 5 out of the 62 servicemen led by A.A. were captured, 12 were killed, and the whereabouts of the remaining 23 servicemen, including one bus driver, are unknown.

A.M. has been charged under part 4 of Article 375 of the Armenian Criminal Code for these criminal actions. In turn, A.A., the commander of the military unit, failed to fulfill the task given by his superiors to discuss the route and endpoint with the escorts and to confirm that this information was accessible to them. Consequently, the escorts misunderstood the task of delivering the personnel to the designated location, resulting in one escort leading A.A.'s group only as far as the beginning of Khovsakan city, where the unit became surrounded, leading to aforementioned casualties.

Furthermore, it has been established that A.A., through the Chief of Staff S.K., who was temporarily performing the duties of the commander, instructed E.H., the head of the unit's replenishment department, to register a contract serviceman, who is the son of the head of the military command agency, as having served with the main body of the unit during a previous combat service. This act included false information in official documents indicating that he had been deployed with the main body of troops during combat service.

A.A. has also been charged under part 4 of Article 375 and part 3 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code for these actions. Meanwhile, S.K. faces charges under part 4 of Article 38-375 of the Criminal Code, and E.H. is charged under part 1 of Article 314 of the same code.

The supervising prosecutor has approved the indictment and sent the case to the Syunik regional court for substantial examination.

Note: The suspect or accused in any alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Armenia, as determined by a legally enforceable court judgment.