YEREVAN. – The Yerkrapah (Defender of the Land) Volunteer Union (YVU) on Tuesday marked its 28th anniversary at Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.

The YVU members who visited the pantheon placed flowers to the tombs of legendary Armenian military commanders Vazgen Sargsyan, Andranik Ozanian, and Monte Melkonian and to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, and paid tribute to the fallen Armenian soldiers.

“We are proud to be Yerkrapahs,” YVU Vice-Chairman Ghukas Ulikhanyan told, in particular, to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Major General Astvatsatur Petrosyan, for his part, said the YVU had been established to carry out the self-defense battles in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in a more organized way during the Karabakh War.

“In case of need, the Yerkrapah is always on the frontline,” he added. “Whether it be within the army, or as an organization, or as an individual.”