New Directive for Commanders: Additional Conversations with Soldiers

Commanders of units subject to incidents of soldier deaths in the army have been ordered to visit hospitals and have additional conversations with soldiers undergoing treatment. This was reported by the head of the RA Armed Forces Medical Department, Sahak Ohanyan, in an interview with the "Zhoghovurd" daily. It is known that from January 1 to February 15, 2020, 13 soldiers died in the army. Due to these incidents, resignation letters were submitted by the Head of the RA Ministry of Defense's Investigative Department, Arthur Baghdasaryan, Commander of the Defense Army Karen Abrahamyan, and the Head of the RA Armed Forces Moral-Psychological Department Aleksan Aleksanyan.

Thus, "Zhoghovurd" discussed the current situation in the army with Sahak Ohanyan. In particular, on February 15, an officer, Hayk Asryan, committed suicide at one of the Defense Army's military units, and "Zhoghovurd" received information that the officer had been visiting a psychologist for a considerable period before going up to the positions.

"Zhoghovurd" asked Sahak Ohanyan if he feels responsible for sending a soldier or officer with health issues to duty. "He has received appropriate treatment in the psychiatric hospital, and after finishing it, he is not planned to be exempted from combat duty," Ohanyan noted," the paper writes.

The full article is available in today's issue of the newspaper.