Shahen Meghryan was born on January 2, 1952, in the village of Gulistan in the Shahumyan region. After graduating from high school with honors in 1969, he was admitted to YSU’s Faculty of Economics. In 1975, he graduated from the university and returned to the Shahumyan region. He worked as an economist, first secretary of the regional trade union. In 1981-1988, he was director of a cannery, in 1988-1991, head of the Agricultural Industry Department, in 1991-1992, chairman and first secretary of the regional district committee.

  Shahen Meghryan was one of the first to organize armed squads. In 1991, after Operation Ring, the enemy captured the villages of Erkej, Buzlukh and Manashid. In September, Shahen Meghryan organized a special operation, following which three villages were liberated between September 11 and 13.

In June 1992, Shahen Meghryan assembled a 25-strong squad in the village of Haterk and entered the enemy’s rear. A number of Martakert villages were liberated with the direct help of the Hayduks: Haterk, Aknaberd, Mataghis, Tonashen, Dastagiri, Sarsang reservoir. On March 11, 1993, a military unit was created by the RA Ministry of Defense and Shahen Meghryan was appointed its commander.

Since 1992, in the Shahumyan region, which was under the control of Azerbaijani forces, in the enemy’s rear, an unprecedented and large-scale guerrilla war was waged during the Artsakh liberation war with Meghryan’s idea and initiative. The Armenian forces operating in the Shahumyan forests, the “Yeghniks”, not only created serious problems for the enemy, but, according to many, could eventually liberate the entire region.

In April 1993, the helicopter carrying Shahen Meghryan and his comrades-in-arms was shot down. After the commander’s death, some of the partisans continued to fight, even achieving some successes, but the Shahumyan region was still not liberated