“On September 27th at 7:15, they woke me up and said to get up because the war started. I got up, stretched, yawned, sat up, and asked them to give me a wafer biscuit,” 19-year-old Georgi Melkonyan told Aravot Daily. He is the soldier who went viral after a video was posted of him eating crackers. This is how the soldier described the first day of the war.
Georgi was wounded. He is currently in Yerevan at home. In an interview with Aravot, he said that he was wounded on October 13th in Jebrayil (Jrakan). He said that he is getting treatment. He assured that he will go back to be with his friends when he feels better.
Georgi said that he received a gunshot wound on the right side of his chest. He was forced to walk for 700 meters in his conditions because the car that came after him was unable to reach the frontlines; it would have been destroyed. Regarding his service, he said, “I have been serving in Jebrayil for one year and three months.”
Georgi said that he filmed the viral video before he was wounded. He sent it to his friend to show his mother that everything is fine. That’s how the video was shared online.
People say that war changes a lot in people’s lives. When asked about what changed in his life, Georgi said, “This war made me brave. I am more patriotic, and a little less emotional.”
Georgi said that there were many intense battles. Someone even died in his arms. “I needed to be in the very back. I refused and went forward because my friends were in the front. I needed to be with them. When you see war, you understand that there is no such thing as friendship because everyone becomes your friend and brother.”
When asked what message he has to all the men who are not at the frontlines now, he said, “Everyone is needed at the frontlines. Everyone will find their place there. Lots of people died and a lot of it was because there were few of us. Everyone can participate. I do not blame anyone for being scared. That’s normal. But you need to overcome that fear.”
Tatev Harutyunyan
