All were killed in those positions. Those who survived blew themselves up. "Factinfo"

A two-child father, contract soldier Vardan Grigoryan fell as a martyr during the recent Azerbaijani attack on the night of September 12-13. Vardan was a squad commander, organizing the defense of position N in Jermuk and engaging in battles against an enemy with a numerical superiority dozens of times, never even thinking of leaving the position.

“The Azerbaijanis attacked every position with groups of 300-400 people. They have exhausted all the weapons in their arsenal, employing kamikaze drones, Bayraktars, and mortars... Most of our guys were killed in the aftermath of shelling. Those who survived, seeing that they were few and in encirclement, blew themselves up to avoid capture. Among those guys were Armen Aslamazyan and Arman Ishkhanyan… Ishkhanyan was wounded. Seeing that there was no way to break free from the encirclement, he blew himself up. And all of Vardan’s position were killed right in battle. Two people are still considered missing,” Vardan’s combat friend Vahram Safaryan told "Factinfo".

Vahram and Vardan fought together in the 4-day and 44-day wars. After the handover of Karvachar, they moved first to Khoynavar and then to Jermuk. “During the 44-day war, we were always waiting for orders to advance, it was so painful when we learned that Karvachar was handed over with a signature. For 44 days, the enemy could not make any advances in that direction, and when we learned about the November 9 agreement, we were completely demoralized,” recalls Vahram, adding that during the 4-day war, the enemy also could not breach the defense of Karvachar, which even they—the Azerbaijanis—admitted.

“We had done significant fortification work. Especially in June, we built to a degree you cannot even imagine. We had constructed bunkers so that everyone would settle in for the coming winter. We understood that the enemy wouldn’t rest until they made a significant breakthrough...” Vahram said, continuing with sorrow that part of the positions they had fortified and equipped had been captured by the enemy, including Vardan's position.

Vardan’s body was handed over to the Armenian side by the enemy on September 20, among 95 bodies. Vahram finds it difficult to speak about his fallen comrade in the past tense. They were close. Vardan was the squad commander, and Vahram was the deputy. Over the course of many years of joint service, Vahram had come to know Vardan very well. He describes him as devoted, friendly, and incredibly humble.

Vardan Grigoryan was from Vanadzor and was the sole breadwinner of his family. According to his friend, he had recently purchased a house with a mortgage, where he dreamed of raising his two minor sons.