Baghanis is a border village. Its residents actively participated in the defense of the village during the Artsakh war. It seems now that the village’s residents are living in peaceful conditions, but gunshots are heard almost every day. Residents close their gates before they go to sleep and they go into their basements when unusual noises are heard.
The Baghramyan family lives at the edge of the village, only a few hundred kilometers away from the Armenian-Azeri border. They live so close that it is possible to see Azeri tractors with the naked eye from their living room. The house is located in the Azeris’ direct line of fire.
The family lives in poor conditions. The mother doesn’t work and her husband is involved in animal husbandry. The family was deprived of their government benefits three months ago due to the fact that one of their children became an adult and their points no longer satisfied the requirements. When asked what they expect from the authorities, the wife said proudly, “I don’t want anything. I believe in myself. I have lost faith through living at the border,” Naira said.
Read also
She gestured towards the living room ceiling and walls covered in bullet holes and said, “This is our home and these are our gunshots. This was where the door to our house was, but we closed it off because we couldn’t leave from here when they were firing. We have everything, but we don’t have hope. Our entire roof is destroyed, but a lot of money is needed. We can’t repair our home… the last shots took place on the 28th or 29th. We have no guarantee whether the village will be fired upon on not. We either go into the basement or we go to our neighbor’s house when they start firing. Our neighbor’s home is safe; ours isn’t. I don’t want anything from anyone. I want my kids to sleep calmly. I want us to calmly go to sleep, wake up, have our kids go to school, and come back home.”
