Armenian military doctor shares memories of deceased friend who would even help enemy’s wounded soldiers

During the war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), military doctor Nikolay Grigoryan was compelled to provide assistance to the enemy’s wounded soldiers several times, and he would always think about his friend, Azat whenever he would bandage their wounds or conduct a surgery on them.

“We would discuss various issues. The topic that we military doctors would discuss was what we would do, if we saw a wounded soldier of the enemy. It’s truly a difficult question since the saved enemy could harm our friends later. Azat never thought twice and always said the wounded soldiers of the enemy need to be saved just like our own soldiers. He said we are doctors and have taken an oath, and we must stay true to that oath,” Nikolay recalls.

After Azat died, Nikolay started thinking about the mission of a doctor more often, and when he needed to provide assistance, especially to the enemy, he would try to act correctly, just like Azat would probably encourage him.

Azat Zakaryan died on October 10. On that day, the enemy’s projectile had fallen not far from his friends’ group, and he had thrown himself to help them, overlooking all the risks. When he was bandaging the wounded soldiers and trying to remove them from the dangerous area, another projectile fell in the same place. Azat and the majority of the wounded soldiers died. Only a young man stayed alive, and later, he told Nikolay and Azat’s relatives how Azat would dedicate himself to help the wounded soldiers.

“Azat was different from everyone else with his world views, diligence and devotion. If he started doing something, he would dedicate himself fully. He would always say one should never underestimate himself. We Armenian military doctors need to stay the way Azat was, and we will continue his work,” Nikolay said.