May 22, 2026
On May 21, Alik Aleksanyan representing the “Strong Armenia” party stated that an army position was secretly surrendered to the RA Armed Forces in the Jermuk sector, referring to the claim of a volunteer.
Later, the RA Ministry of Defense denied this claim, stating:
“In a video shared by one of the members of the “Strong Armenia” party, an unknown person falsely reports that a military position of the RA armed forces “surrendered” in the Jermuk sector.
We declare that the mentioned is misinformation.
We urge the law enforcement agencies to study the mentioned video and the information contained in it in order to make a legal assessment.”
Today, the RA Investigative Committee message is distributed, where it is noted.
“According to the report about the apparent crime received by the RA Investigative Committee, A.A. posted a clip on Facebook with an attached note on May 21: “People, they are handing over a position secretly from you, listen to the words of this volunteer, during this time the Minister of Defense is campaigning with hearts”, where the latter and another person talk about handing over the combat position located in the direction of Jermuk city to Azerbaijan.
On the same day, the RA Ministry of Defense officially denied the information provided by AA and that person.
On the basis of the received report, criminal proceedings were initiated with features of perjury and organizing perjury.
The preliminary investigation revealed the identity of the person speaking in the given video, whose face is covered, who was on combat duty in combat position N.
During the interrogation, the latter denied the information about handing over any position, at the same time stating that, being in an inebriated state, he participated in the gathering organized by NK, where he met AA, who, being informed about his social problems, immediately organized the interview with the journalist.
He stated that he was in an inebriated state and gave false information.”
Let’s leave to what extent who is right or wrong, but another episode caught our attention. The RA Investigative Committee actually declares that the person who was in an inebriated state performed combat duty.
I wonder if the person in a state of inebriation was one of the land guards led by Sasun Mikayelyan, or a participant in a training camp, and regardless of that, a shameful image of combat duty is obtained.
By the way, we tried to get an answer to this question from the RA Investigative Committee, but they told us that they are not aware, and we should take what is written in the message as a basis, but here it is only mentioned about a person who performed combat duty while intoxicated, it is not clear whether he is a part of the training camp or a national guard.
Later, it was possible to find out from our sources that we are talking about the militia, which is used as needed, and in connection with which information about salary cuts appears in the press from time to time.
And the fact that in the above mentioned case we are dealing with a person who was on combat duty in an inebriated state, that is also RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan confirm
In this context, let’s remind that he was drafted in the training camp in March of this year ձերբակալվել՝ within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the injury of conscripted reservists in the training camp.
Earlier, information was spread in the mass media that 3 reservists were stabbed to death in Vardenis.
It should be noted that at the end of 2025, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan announced that: “if in 2025 16,000 reservists participated in the training sessions, then in 2026 it is planned that the number of reservists participating in the training sessions will be 20,000 on average»:
Let us add that a system of territorial defense and local self-defense was formed, which, as Suren Papikyan was to report implies a permanent structure, starting from the company ring to the command staff, where there are permanent staff positions and employees.
“Their function is to receive the reservists during training sessions, train them and ensure integration during combat duty.” he elaborated, adding that the training sessions are also meant to clarify what the reservists should deal with in case of possible problems and how to protect the border of our country.
Regardless of who we are talking about: a country guard, a participant in a training camp, or a militia deployed as needed, this once again proves that there is a problem with increasing the quality of combat duty and discipline, and one cannot entrust a position to random persons, which we are alerting for years.
Maybe this is not a good day, so to speak, but in this case, is it justified to shorten the period of mandatory military service, and is it possible to talk about a professional army?
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