Junior Sergeant Mher Harutyunyan served in the Central Defense Region of Stepanakert (known as TsOR), commanded a detachment of an anti-tank platoon.

From the first days of the 44-day war, he and his platoon comrades were in one of the positions of Varanda (Fuzuli), which was impregnable before the change of shift.

On November 7, two days before the end of the war, 20-year-old Mher Harutyunyan dies in the battles to defend Shushi.

Mher Harutyunyan was born on July 20, 2000 in the village of Karmir Shuka, Martuni region of Artsakh.

He was drafted into the army on January 14, 2019.

From September 27 to October 24, the anti-tank platoon where Mher served was sent to Varanda, to one of the positions of the Karakhan Bailey sector.

On October 24, a shift change occurs, the platoon heads to the Ajapnyak quarter of Stepanakert.

On October 29, the platoon is deployed in the village of Karintak, Shusha district.

On the night of November 4, Karin Taka’s reserve began to retreat, Mher’s anti-tank platoon also retreated and was stationed on the outskirts of Shushi.

Mher has been on the list of missing persons for several months.

“I went to all the morgues in Armenia, took a DNA test, but did not find my son.

8 months after the end of the war, they called from Heratsi (Republican Forensic Medical Center) and reported that the DNA matched.

The shot was in the jaw.

The guys shot themselves to avoid being captured,” says father Mardi Harutyunyan.

Mher Harutyunyan was buried on July 7, 2021 at the Karmir Shuka cemetery.