VIDEO. Davit Galstyan was the person needed during the war, Tonoyan says

Davit Galstyan, known as "Patron Davon" and involved in arms sales, was the person with the necessary skills and capabilities to supply weaponry during the war days, stated former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan at a session of the National Assembly's investigative committee examining the 44-day war.

"He was the person who was necessary. I didn't know how long it would last, but he had the capabilities and skills for organizing supplies under conditions where the paths of arms supply had been obstructed. He implemented that," Tonoyan pointed out.

He added that the armaments were brought in both by air and ground, literally arriving in Armenia as a result of "sleight of hand." According to Tonoyan, what was accomplished in terms of arms supply was almost impossible. He mentioned that the president of the opposing country publicly complained about it twice.

Responding to the question of what Davit Galstyan was doing later in Artsakh, at the combat management center of the Artsakh Defense Army, Tonoyan stated that Galstyan never participated in decision-making and was not present at discussions. "The combat management center is not limited to one hall. There is also a hall where recordings are made, and there may be individuals present who do not have the right to influence decision-making, either to inform or to listen. They are in that specially equipped hall, where recordings are also conducted, including to mislead the adversary and to raise the morale of our armed forces and society. Those individuals were not present in the rooms where decisions were made," Tonoyan said.

It is worth recalling that on September 30, 2021, the National Security Service announced that Davit Tonoyan and Davit Galstyan, engaged in arms supply, were arrested on suspicion of embezzling particularly large amounts. On that same day, Tonoyan and Galstyan were detained. On June 28, the Anti-Corruption Court decided to release Davit Galstyan on bail of 40 million AMD. Charges have also been brought against former Chief of Staff Artak Davtyan, former Deputy Chief of Staff Stepanyan Galstyan, head of the aviation technical property service of the Ministry of Defense's aviation administration Artem Hambaryan, and chief engineer of the aviation administration Vladimir Babayan.