No Cases of Interpersonal Homicide During Mandatory Military Service in 2025, Says Suren Papikyan

In 2025, six fatalities related to military service have been recorded, including one due to lightning strike, one from electric shock, two from suicide or suicide attempt, and two due to health issues. These figures pertain to different age groups of servicemen, not all conscripts. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, Suren Papikyan, during a press conference.

“From January 1 to December 31, 2025, a total of 30 servicemen died or were killed, of which I have already mentioned that six were in circumstances related to their service, while 24 were in circumstances unrelated to their service—such as car accidents, domestic issues, or perhaps illnesses that occurred at home, outside of service. These fall into the statistics concerning our entire society. If we remove all statistics regarding the causes of death, we see that the Armed Forces are part of that because we are part of society and cannot be separated from it. Therefore, the death rates have decreased by 40 percent in 2025 compared to 2024. This is the reality. I believe this is a statistical outcome that, while complex to deem satisfactory considering it involves death, demonstrates we have significant results and notable progress in this regard,” he noted.

Papikyan also added that there have been no cases of one serviceman killing another, stating, “This is unprecedented in the history of the Third Republic.”