GYUMRI. – Wednesday’s huge car rally—to demand that Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, the suspect in Monday’s brutal killing of the Avetisyan family members in Gyumri city, be handed over to the Armenian law enforcement agencies—got underway in Gyumri.

A large number of civic activists from capital city Yerevan also had arrived in Gyumri to participate in the car rally, informed the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter in Gyumri.

During the event, some participants even removed a Russian flag, which was placed outside a store, and threw it on the ground.

A large number of police forces are posted in Gyumri, and Yerevan police units also have arrived in the city.

The memorial service and the funeral for the Avetisyan family are slated for Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Six members of the Avetisyan family were shot dead and the six-month-old baby was wounded in their house in Gyumri on Monday. Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the city’s Russian 102nd Military Base, is the main suspect in this crime. Permyakov was later apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border. It was decided that the Russian side will investigate Permyakov’s case.