Hovsep Kirakosyan (; 23 August 1988 – 2 April 2016) was a military officer in the

Armenian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia (, abbreviated ՀՀ ԶՈՒ, ''HH ZU''), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army (), is the national military of Armenia. It consists of personnel branches under the General Staff of the Armenian Arm ...

who died during the 2016 Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes.

Biography

He was born on 23 August 1988 in Apaga, a village in the Armavir region of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. His ancestors came from the town of Sasun in

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the western parts of the Armenian highlands located within Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that comprise the historic ...

. He has always dreamed of becoming a soldier. Both of his parents were against his enlistment, but were nonetheless proud of his high grades at the military academy. Hovsep Kirakosyan enlisted in the

in 2006. He went to the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

and a few years later was commissioned as a combat engineering officer. He was assigned to the

Artsakh Defense Army The Artsakh Defence Army () was the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh. Established in 1992, it united previously disorganized defence units which were formed in the early 1990s. It was disbanded on 20 September 2023 under t ...

April War

The

April War The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Füh ...

started during the night of April 1, along the northeastern part of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line, when the Azerbaijani Armed Forces carried out a large-scale offensive against the Armenian side. At the time, Captain Kirakosyan was living with his wife and children in the village of Mataghis of the province of Martakert in the Artsakh Republic. His wife, Mariam, said that during the night, there was a knock on their bedroom window, from which they both woke up and were told that they needed to get their children out of the village as fast as possible. While Mariam escaped the village with their two young sons, Hovsep joined his unit and led his men to battle. Kirakosyan was one of the first soldiers to fall in the April War. During the fighting, one of his soldiers saw that blood was coming from his ears and eyes. His men were not able to remove him from the area because of intense shooting. He continued to fight, telling his soldiers, "Boys, I am fine. You go fight." He would eventually succumb to his wounds and die of bloodloss. Captain Hovsep Kirakosyan's memorial service took place on the 4th of April, 2016 in the culture center of the Apaga village and his funeral took place on 5 April. He is survived by his wife, two siblings (one older brother and a younger sister), and his two children.

Awards

Had he survived the war, Captain Hovsep Kirakosyan was going to be promoted to major in October 2016. He was posthumously awarded with the Republic of Armenia "Military Service" medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirakosyan, Hovsep 1988 births 2016 deaths Armenian military personnel killed in action 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes