RA defense minister attempts to distance himself from non-combat  deaths in Armenian army

ArmInfo.Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan attempted to distance himself from non-combat deaths in the country's armed forces caused by hazing, assuring that he may be at fault, but not to a significant degree.

"Regarding the intensity, I cannot say why such a high rate has been  recorded in such a short period. But the fact that the Minister of  Defense can be blamed for these deaths is news in the Republic of  Armenia.

Why? Of course, I have always been far from looking at this issue  through statistics, but the life, past, and history of the army  require certain statistics," he said in a conversation with  journalists when asked to comment on the increasing number of deaths  in the Armenian army. According to Papikyan, throughout the history  of the Republic of Armenia, throughout the history of the Armenian  army, cases of murder, suicide, and hazing have always existed. In  this vein, he cited statistics on suicides and murders in the  country's armed forces from 2015 to 2026.

"In 2015, there were 7..., but in 2016, the number of cases sharply  increased to 19, in 2017 - 13, in 2018 - 12, in 2019 - 11, in 2020 -  10, in 2021 - 10, in 2022 - 8, in 2023 - 9, in 2024 - 11, in 2025 -  2, in 2026 - 8," he stated.

The head of the Armenian Ministry of Defense acknowledged that some  deaths in the armed forces are due to hazing, while others are the  result of a criminal subculture. He said this is a challenge that is  not his alone. Papikyan assured that a coordinated effort is needed  to eradicate this problem.

Notably, while the minister was attempting to distance himself from  the issue, news of another suicide in the armed forces came to light.  When asked whether the minister had been informed of the death of a  contract serviceman today, Papikyan denied it, promising to provide  information if confirmed.

Earlier, the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA)  published a study according to which 30 deaths of military personnel  were registered in the Armenian Armed Forces during the first seven  months of 2026. The organization stated that 11 of these 30 were  officially classified as service-related, while 19 were classified as  unrelated. The HCA Vanadzor office expressed its conviction that  regardless of whether a service member died while on duty, this case  should be considered a loss of service, since the death of every  service member must be considered in terms of the state's obligation  to protect human rights.  In 2026, all deaths of military personnel  occurred in non-combat situations. Moreover, over the past two years  and five months, no deaths in the Armed Forces have been recorded as  a result of ceasefire violations; the last case was in February 2024,  when four members of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union were killed as a  result of a ceasefire violation. Although no deaths resulting from  ceasefire violations have been recorded since February 2024, the  number of military personnel killed in action in the Armed Forces  increased from 2018 to 2025 compared to 2010 to 2017.

More than a third (approximately 37%) of the 30 military personnel  killed in non-combat situations in 2026 died as a result of suicide  or homicide. Furthermore, 6 out of 8 suicides and 2 out of 3  homicides were related to military service.

Thus, according to research by the HCA HCAC office, 462 servicemen  died in the armed forces of Armenia and Artsakh between 2010 and  2017, 163 (35%) of whom died as a result of ceasefire violations and  299 (65%) in non-combat situations. Between 2018 and 2025, 511  military personnel deaths were recorded, 84 (16%) of which were  combat-related and 427 (84%) non-combat-related.

As the data shows, the number of deaths increased by approximately  11% between 2018 and 2025 compared to 2010 and 2017. Over the same  period, non-combat deaths increased by 45% (49 deaths).

Regarding deaths due to suicide and homicide, it should be noted that  between 2010 and 2017, 131 military personnel deaths were recorded  from these causes, accounting for 45 percent of the total number of  non- combat deaths.