Video: 'There Were Too Few Hands' - Armenian Doctors Among the Last to Leave Stepanakert

On September 28, the last patients and doctors from the Republican Medical Center of Artsakh left for Armenia in a convoy. Five bedridden patients, along with several mobile patients, more than 15 medical staff members, and technical personnel were part of the group. They took with them what they could carry—some instruments and equipment, as well as medications. Following their departure, the hospital ceased operations, according to the center's intensivist, Artashes Saiyan. This was reported by news.am.

According to Saiyan, the hospital’s ambulances were at the front and back of the convoy, transporting bedridden patients. In the middle of the convoy were other patients and medical staff in passenger vehicles along with their families. On the way, they picked up a few more displaced individuals who needed medical assistance, including a mother with a newborn. Russian peacekeepers had been informed that such a convoy was heading towards Armenia.

“But they did not escort us. After we left Hin Shen village and were heading down to the river, the Russian peacekeepers negotiated with the others on the opposite side to open a corridor for us and allow our convoy to pass faster than the others. We reached Korrnijdzor in about 14 hours, which is quite fast under these circumstances. Because we know that our citizens, unfortunately, have been on the road for 2-3 days, caught in terrible traffic jams,” he said.

The convoy stopped several times to provide assistance to those whose health was deteriorating during the journey. One person needed intravenous injections to stabilize heart function and blood pressure due to a paroxysm of cardiac arrhythmia.

Upon entering Armenia, patients were placed in the medical center in Goris, where doctors were to determine who would stay there and who would be transferred to Yerevan. Artashes Saiyan and his family are already in Yerevan, but he still cannot comprehend how everything happened so rapidly. In his assessment, “artificial political processes” took place.

He recalls, “When the blockade of Artsakh began last December, the hospital switched to a special working mode. Only patients needing emergency medical assistance were admitted, and all planned procedures were canceled. There was a shortage of medications; they began to use them very sparingly. Some were saved for the war. When large-scale aggression against Artsakh commenced on September 19 of this year, the doctors lowered their patients, including those who were in the hospital due to prolonged starvation, into the basement or the first floor—comparatively safe areas. Those who could walk were discharged. Then the flow of the wounded began—very intensively. Both injured civilians and soldiers arrived.”

According to Artashes Saiyan, thanks to the competent work of the Ministry of Health and the administration of the medical center, they had no problems receiving patients regarding medications and instruments at the time when they admitted the wounded and explosion victims. He noted that the issue was not a lack of painkillers but providing timely assistance to everyone, as the influx was very high. “Patients came in a very intense flow. All patients received pain relief, and everyone received appropriate medical assistance. However, perhaps timewise... a few minutes or half an hour before the assistance could reach them, because we were alone against that disaster during the blockade,” he explained.

The doctor reminds us that during the 44-day war, and even before that, whenever there was a need, doctors from Armenia and the Diaspora had provided assistance to Artsakh’s doctors, but this time they were left alone due to the blockade, and “there were not enough hands.”

“But it must be said, we did this honorably—both the children’s hospital where our colleague Marat Harutyunyan, along with the chief physician, very competently organized help for the wounded and burn victims, and the Republican Hospital. Everyone showed up and heroically helped, fought, despite the fact that, during all this, it turned out that they too had losses among their relatives or encountered their family members among the burned and the wounded. No one broke, and everyone worked. The Russian peacekeepers' hospital also assisted us a lot with their medical services,” he stated.

After the attack on September 19 and the explosion in the fuel depot, it became clear to the doctors that sooner or later, the medical center would need to be evacuated. They mentioned different timelines—until December 1 or until January 1. When the evacuation of patients began, an order was issued that after the final and successful transfer of the patients, the doctors should also leave Stepanakert. “Events unfolded very quickly. There are processes in politics that take a long time. Even examples of Kosovo, Abkhazia, and Ossetia are after long processes. But indeed, everything happened very quickly—war, disarmament, and then a devastating explosion. And, in fact, that order to evacuate—the Republican Hospital, which is the most powerful medical institution in Artsakh, had to be evacuated. The heartbreaking thing was that you find yourself in a war—without assistance, during a blockade, like 300 Spartans. And in that case, you have to rely on your own forces,” Saiyan said.

According to the doctor, the soldiers from Artsakh fought very well in the military operations, and because of this, the opposing side suffered disproportionately high losses. Perhaps that's why they decided to halt the so-called “antiterrorist operation.”

“Even in this situation, Artsakh inflicted significant damage on Azerbaijan under blockade, and they stopped. They suffered severe losses across all four fronts due to our guys fighting heroically. Of course, our losses were not few either,” he emphasized.

“We went through this journey with our patients; there was no fear,” he continued, “people were just enraged at the enemy. They said if there was a weapon, we would fight too. It is dishonest when great powers attack a small, 120,000 population Artsakh and even cannot finish the job, halting their so-called operation at high costs. And due to some... I don't know what political processes, it is decided that weapons should be laid down, and we should surrender... The processes of these artificial procedures are felt,” he lamented.

It is evident that Artashes Saiyan is very tired and distressed. He is haunted by the question of why this happened. After days without sleep and rest, under pressure, ensuring that no one is left without medical assistance, and after a long journey, now that the last patients from the Republican Medical Center in Stepanakert are safe in Yerevan, he seeks to understand this “why.”

“I don't know, I am not a political scientist, but we had the strength to fight. It is painful that everything ended like this... But I believe this is not the end. We left our hearts in Artsakh to return to Artsakh, victorious, and it will happen,” concluded Artashes Saiyan.