YEREVAN. – The body of Junior Sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan was laid to eternal rest Wednesday, and with military traditions, at Yerablur Military Pantheon of Armenian capital city Yerevan.    

A requiem mass was served in front of the church at Yereablur.

Hovhannisyan’s commander, Edvard Asryan, handed to the fallen soldier’s father the medal that was posthumously awarded to him. 

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, MOD senior officials, high-ranking military officers, Karabakh War veterans, artists, politicians, and numerous others attended the funeral.      

The diversionary teams of Azerbaijan had attempted to carry out a simultaneous infiltration at the line of contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces. The attempts were recorded at around between 11:50pm on January 19 and 12:15am on January 20, in the northeastern (Jraberd) and the southeastern (Korgan) directions of the line of contact. As a result of the ensuing skirmish, Junior Sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan was killed at the military position located in the northeastern direction, and from the gunshot wound he sustained from the adversary.  

By the decree of President Bako Sahakyan of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), Hovhannisyan was posthumously awarded with the Bravery Medal for his for his courage while defending the NKR state border.    

Photos by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am