Deaths in army have increased since abolition of spiritual service in  Armenian Armed Forces - opposition rep 

ArmInfo.Deaths in the Armenian army have increased since the abolition of the spiritual service in the Armenian Armed Forces. This was stated by Gegham Manukyan, an MP from the opposition Armenia faction, in a conversation with journalists in parliament on August 24, responding to statements by  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding deaths in the army.

Manukyan noted that only a "talented manipulator" could blame the  presence of peace as the reason for such incidents during combat duty  in peacetime, referring to the Armenian prime minister's words.  "Radical steps in this direction should have been taken long ago.  However, since nothing has been done for eight years, the situation  today resembles a 'super-powerful explosion.' I would also like to  point out that the number of such cases began to increase after the  abolition of the spiritual service in the Armed Forces. As for  personnel issues, they were caused by the dismissal of a large number  of officers. As a result, the Armenian Armed Forces are facing a  serious staffing problem," the politician noted.

The MP believes that the current leadership, having adopted the  approach of the previous government, is attempting to view  developments in the Armenian Armed Forces through the prism of the  idea that "the army is a mirror of society." However, as Manukyan  recalled, it was precisely this principle that was banned in 2013 by  then-Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan. "Today, the Armenian Armed  Forces face problems related to leadership, the employment of service  members, their psychological well-being, and ideology. Another  problem is that, after so many deaths in the army, there have been no  announcements about the removal of any official," the opposition  figure noted.

Meanwhile, as Manukyan recalled, in January 2020, when several  similar incidents occurred in the army, primarily in the Armenian  Armed Forces, the Artsakh Defense Minister was suddenly removed for  some reason. "Since this government is guided by Facebook's  influence, the then-Artsakh Defense Minister, Karen Abrahamyan, was  removed from his post, although he had only held the post for about a  year," Manukyan concluded.

As a reminder, on August 24, the Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed  the death of conscript Edgar Gevorgyan. According to the ministry,  Gevorgyan's body, with a gunshot wound, was found on August 23.   Notably, this is the third non-combat death in the Armenian Armed  Forces this month. Meanwhile, Pashinyan, speaking at a parliamentary  session on August 24 about reforms in the Armenian Armed Forces,  noted that deaths in the Armenian Armed Forces are linked to the  presence of peace. As the Armenian prime minister explained, "When  there was no peace, soldiers were afraid to fall asleep because it  could cost them their lives, whereas in peace, they know that this  will not happen, or the likelihood is very low.  Furthermore, he  stated the need for radical steps to prevent such incidents."

As of February 1, 2026, the Spiritual Service of the Armenian  Apostolic Church under the Ministry of Defense was abolished in the  Armenian Armed Forces. As a result of this decree, only eight of the  42 chaplains of the Primate can continue serving in the Armenian  Armed Forces.