Yesterday, family relatives and friends of the 20-year-old Andranik Zohrabyan deceased during the fieriest battles of the 4-day war had gathered in his home. Father of the deceased soldier had made an offering. The soldiers defending our border positions were also offered this treatment with a wish for the safe service and sound return of our soldiers. Father of the deceased soldier, accompanied by Director of Vedi NGO Melkon Taloyan, personally visited the border line positions, and together with brave soldiers standing on the border, they commemorated with their prayers to God for all the heroes fallen in the four-day war by giving their lives for our future. The only son of the family, Andranik, was to be demobilized in July this year and returned home, but the April war left its severe imprint to Zohrabyans family. Andranik was serving in Martakert region, NKR. There were many works here left unfinished for Andranik: education and his great dream of becoming a football coach… Every time, when seeing off the guests and staying inside the walls of their house, with their grief alone, they often discussion and analyze where was their mistake, maybe they could save their son to continue the generation… Sometimes the parents accuse themselves of ignoring the poor sight of their son. Father maybe inside his soul regrets that could make his son’s visual problem a mean to avoid the danger of serving in the positions, but he says that he has done nothing … because Andranik did not allow… “He said, “Dad, I know that it is difficult, I will go wherever it necessary, I will draw the paper and will go to serve in the army with a clear conscience. He was happy to go to Karabakh…”
And every time, the father not being able to save his son in the heavy state of mind remembers that he consciously wanted to go to serve in the army, it was Andranik’s choice. “Today, I have to live in the sorrow and suffering of a great loss, at the same time, with a sense of pride that my son had fought with his comrades in arms at the cost of his blood and has fallen for the sake of the homeland,” – says Atom Zohrabyan. Andranik Zohrabyan was one of the soldiers of Captain Armenak Urfanyan’s headed squad and was killed during one of the fiery battles of the war in April when devotedly defending the positions deployed in the direction of Martakert, in the same trench with Armenak Urfanyan, Robert Abajyan and Kyaram Sloyan. The small number soldiers headed by Urfanyan threw the enemy back on the first night of the military actions several times. The enemy’s forces were more than ours, it was an unequal battle, but our soldiers demonstrated an exclusive fighting ability and heroism. Our guys have successfully pushed the first attack of the enemy back, then have destroyed one tank of the enemy and smashed down the second attempt of the attack. All the time, the squad was fighting under the intensive bombardment of the enemy by not retreating one step back. Captain Urfanyann and soldier Kyaram Sloyan were killed from the mine blast, private soldier Andranik Zohrabyan was wounded when throwing the enemy back, after which Robert Abajyan took over the defense of the position and continued the fight across a wall alone. When evading the enemy’s observation posts to penetrate into the position, Robert Abajyan was wounded and barely carrying injured Andranik Zohrabyan with him, he retreated until the last trench, from where he contacted the battalion commander to report the situation and continued shooting until the last bullet. And when the enemy had approached, he had come out showing the only remaining grenade with him allegedly he wanted to surrender and then blew himself up and several enemy soldiers. “These four deceased had become brothers by their shed blood in the trenches that day and have connected our families with each other. They have spent the last moments of their life together, speaking to one another and definitely sharing something,” – says the father of the deceased soldier. Hero Andranik Zohrabyan was posthumously awarded an Order of Military Cross by the President of the Republic of Armenia.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
