Deacon Hovhannes Galstyan—who had sustained a gunshot wound to his head during Azerbaijan’s intelligence-gathering and sabotage infiltration attempt on the evening of August 11, 2015, and toward a military unit of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)—still has not fully recovered.

“In winter, the cold further delays the healing process,” Deacon Galstyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. “I haven’t yet returned to [my spiritual] service. I need to undergo another checkup at the hospital after January 10, and then it will be clear when I will return to service.”

During the aforementioned infiltration attempt, Deacon Galstyan—who conducted religious services at the said military unit—was wounded while going up to the NKR military positions with a bread vehicle, and the adversary had fired on this vehicle.

A military officer, a rank-and-file soldier, and the clergy member were in the bread vehicle.

The serviceman and the deacon had sustained gunshot wounds.

First, they were taken to the Martakert regional hospital, then to the NKR capital city of Stepanakert, and, ultimately, to the Central Clinical Military Hospital in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan.