For almost 3 years, Gevorg Grigoryan’s family has been going to Yerablur every evening to visit their son’s grave.
“Every day after work we go to Yerablur until one or two in the morning, sometimes we spend even more time in this shrine, especially since every day from September 27 is the anniversary of the death of one of our martyr heroes,” explains Gevorg’s mother, Knarik Papoyan.
Gevorg Grigoryan was drafted into the army in 2019. In July, he served in the Gyumri anti-tank training unit. He visited his family for the last time in January 2020, during his vacation in Gyumri, after which he left for Artsakh on January 10 to continue his service as a junior sergeant in the anti-tank battery of the Hadrut regiment. From September 25, Gevorg was in position with the battery and from the first day of the war until October 27 defended the positions near the village of Karakhanbeyli. “During the war, Gevorg called me and said, ‘Mom, I never imagined I would kill someone.’ I said: Dear Gev, you are not a murderer, it’s a war, you destroy the enemy,” says Mrs. Knarik and continues: “Gevorg’s human perceptions were very different, he was sensitive to everything , he could not pass by even beggars and homeless animals.
Gevorg practiced “Dyosinmon syorinryu” karate from the age of seven. His father, Sergey Grigoryan, also practiced this form of martial art, which was banned at the time, during the Soviet era. The latter received first place on April 20, 2019 in Kaluga. During the war, Gevorg only told his father that he shot down tanks, then his comrades also confirmed that he shot down 11 tanks, eight in the Hadrut position, three in the Martouni position. According to Hakob Sargsyan, a soldier, Gevorg never missed a single shot. After a month of fighting, on October 27, the anti-tank battery was ordered to retreat, the troop retreated through a narrow corridor to the village of Kaghartsi in Martuni.
“On the day of the retreat, Gevorg called and said very angrily: “Honey, whoever says that Hadrut was captured, don’t believe it, we held our positions until the end, they just told us to leave. Then, when they arrive in Kaghartsi, he sees healthy comrades of different positions, with whom he had no contact during this period, he is very happy,” his mother wrote in her memoirs.
On October 30, Davit Grigoryan, senior sergeant of the anti-tank battery, was sent to the positions of Herher-Chartar with a special mission, asking him to also resume his calculation.
David, aware of the danger of the task, says he cannot tell anyone about it. At this time, Gevorg Grigoryan and Hakob Sargsyan voluntarily join Davit, saying that we don’t need calculation, we go with good hitters.
The last time Gevorg spoke with his family was that night, November 2. While preventing a tank attack, Gevorg Grigoryan, Hero of Artsakh Davit Grigoryan and Karen Badoyan, who were approaching the position at that time, were killed by an anti-aircraft missile strike. Hakob Sargsyan was seriously injured.
Hakob doesn’t remember the details of the incident very well, he only says that they shot down three tanks that night, while the fourth tank was shot down, the ATS hit the position, that’s all what he remembers about this incident.
Due to active bombing, it was not possible to extract the bodies of Gevorg and Davit at that time. The boys’ remains were removed from the area in November. Thanks to the documents in his pocket, David’s remains were identified within a few days.
Gevorg’s family searched for their son’s remains for approximately 5 months.
“It was March 18, they called me and told me to come to Herat tomorrow. At that moment I froze, I asked if there was any news, they told me said, come closer, they will tell you,” says Knarik Papoyan.
Gevorg’s identity is confirmed, two days later he is buried in Yerablur. Gevorg is the only one of the 6 fallen soldiers of the anti-tank battery of the Hadrut regiment who was not rewarded, until today no one from the military unit or the military commissariat has visited the family of Gevorg.