Commando Service Chief Arrested in Connection with Tragic Fire

On January 30, 2023, a decision was made by the prosecutor overseeing the legality of the pre-trial criminal proceedings to initiate public criminal prosecution against Major M.S., the head of the communal exploitation service of military unit N of the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD), as well as the head of fire protection and rescue operations of the military unit, based on part 3 of article 550 of the Armenian Criminal Code (military official negligence resulting in loss of life).

The General Prosecutor's Office reported that M.S. was arrested on January 31, 2023.

As part of the ongoing investigation by the 5th Military Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, sufficient evidence was collected indicating that M.S., as the commanding officer and responsible official for organizing fire protection, maintaining the readiness of the firefighting team, ensuring the training of personnel on fire safety requirements, and maintaining records of the technical status of fire extinguishers, failed to fulfill these duties due to negligent and careless attitudes, including ensuring the military construction engineering unit of the MOD N with the necessary fire protection measures, which negligently led to the loss of lives.

It should be noted that on January 19, 2023, shortly after midnight, an officer of the engineering service of the MOD N, who was responsible for the seating period, unlawfully ignited a stove in a residence designated for the unit's personnel at house number 20 on the 1st street of Azat village in the Gegharkunik region using gasoline, which resulted in a fire breaking out in the residence. Due to the absence of appropriate fire protection measures, the servicemen in the room were unable to extinguish the fire, and due to the lack of an emergency exit, they could not break the iron grilles attached to the windows and escape.

As a result, 15 conscripts resting in the residence died, while the officer and four conscripts sustained varying degrees of bodily injuries.