Reasons for Soldiers Sleeping in Positions: Seyran Ohanyan Elaborates

Today, the conditions of service are so harsh that soldiers are getting tired and sleeping in their positions, said former Minister of Defense of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan during a conversation with journalists near the Anti-Corruption Court.

There are often disputes among soldiers in the army precisely over sleeping arrangements. According to information, there is a so-called "curse" placed on sleeping in positions.

“To combat this fatigue, decisions were made during 2014-2016 in the following manner: an appropriate number of personnel needed to be ensured in the positions. It is very difficult to carry out continuous duty for two weeks with this schedule: 2 hours of guard duty, 2 hours of awake shift, and 2 hours of sleep. It is prohibited by our regulations to switch to guard duty every other day in the unit’s territory, because soldiers get quite fatigued with the 2-2-2 hour cycle. Now, soldiers are still carrying out duty under this same cycle for two weeks,” stated former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.

According to him, it was decided to have 4 shifts so that each soldier could at least rest for 8 hours during a 24-hour period. He emphasized that the Ministry of Defense leadership should draw conclusions, as it is shameful that in a period declared by the authorities as peaceful, we experience such painful incidents.

It is noteworthy that during 2026, there were 13 recorded fatalities in the Armed Forces of Armenia, 5 of which were among conscript soldiers.