“I called Andranik a day ago, in the morning of September 18, and he said that he was going to the military position. Whoever he talked to that day said the same thing. He called all his relatives, sent pictures to all of them. But then when I called he either hung up or didn't pick up.” This is what Knarik Babayan recounts about her missing brother, 58-year-old Andranik Babayan.
Her brother served as a volunteer in the militia, and went to the posts twice a month. On September 19, 2023, at around 12:30, his wife, Nvard, spoke to him for the last time. He said it was time for his shift, he was going to the post and would not be available. They couldn't get in touch anymore. There were 8-9 people in their group that day.
According to his sister Knarik, he almost always went to positions with different people.
“People were gathered from Hadrut and other villages to go to the army, but we knew few of them. They were at post 303 of Shuskend village.”
Three from the group are considered missing. Only Arthur Kocharyan is officially considered killed. According to Knarik, he is their distant relative and was buried in Yerablur.
Three of the group returned: the senior officer of their post and two fellow soldiers. They are also not sure whether Andranik is a prisoner or killed. One of them told the Babayans how he heard Andranik's voice while coming out of the entrenchment, saying: "Agh, my heart!" But his sister is sure that "a person who gets a heart shot cannot say a word."
On that day, Andranik was wearing a "sweater", Yeghvard's sneakers, and his military uniform was brown.
"He often complained about military boots. He said that they hurt, that's why he wore sneakers. There was a picture of Jesus in the right pocket of his jacket," says his sister.
According to Knarik, the search operations also did not give results. They were in Artsakh until September 27, waiting for new news every day. Babayann's family recognized only Grisha from the rescue team.
“My son talked to Grisha. He said that after we described him, after hearing Andranik's name, he recognized him. He said that he fell 20 meters away from the entrenchment. He personally took the body, wrapped it and brought it. But my brother's body is not here, it was not him. Arthur Kocharyan's son also looked. He got out only his father from that post”.
According to Knarik, they saw the photos of all the bodies taken out of that area, but Andranik is not in any of the photos.
“Two guys from the Investigative Committee, who had been at the Heratsi morgue, showed us pictures and said that those were the bodies brought on the 26th of the month. I have seen all of them, but he was not there. His fellow soldiers were wearing green uniforms, but my brother’s uniform was brown. His wife also said that he always kept a picture of Jesus in the pocket of his jacket when he went to the military position. And in the middle of the two fingers of the hand is the name "Rima" tattooed in Russian: his first child died, that was the child's name. There were also tattoos on his foot.”
Knarik Babayan served in a military hospital for 14 years. She is a pharmacist by profession. She was the head of the pharmacy of the military unit in Hadrut. After the 44-day war in 2020 she was transferred to the Askeran military unit.
On September 19, when the bombing began, Knarik's husband was in Fizuli, and her son was in Jabrayil military unit.
They came to Armenia on September 27 with their car.
“We haven't taken anything with us. Even when we were going from Hadrut to Stepanakert, we could not take anything. The road was unbearable. The car broke down several times. The road was very long. When we arrived in Kornidzor, we waited there for a long time. We needed to register”, Knarik said ,- “theSeptember 19 war lasted one day, but I cannot explain what was happening. It is impossible to explain.''