Jalal Anatolii Harutyunyan (; born 11 November 1974) is an Armenian general from the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

who formerly served as Commander of 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 ...

and Minister of Defense of Artsakh. He commanded the Artsakh Defense Army during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

until his dismissal on 27 October 2020 after being wounded in action. He was appointed Head of the Military Control Service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia in February 2021. Harutyunyan was suspended from this role in connection with a criminal case opened against him in September 2022. In February 2025, he was found guilty of "careless attitude towards military service" during a particular incident of the 2020 war. Harutyunyan was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months' imprisonment.

Early life and education

Harutyunyan was born on 11 November 1974, in Badara, then a part of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in the

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

. His father, Anatoli Harutyunyan, was vice-principal and mathematics teacher at a local school, while his mother, Svetlana Arushanyan, worked as a nurse. From 1991 to 1995, he studied biology at Artsakh State University. In 1999, he entered the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

under the Ministry of Defense of the Russia Federation, from which he graduated with honors.

Career

Harutyunyan has served in the

since 5 November 1992, when he volunteered for service at the age of 17. He fought in the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

from 1992 to 1994. He served in various positions in the Defense Army, primarily in artillery units such as the Assistant to the Head of Artillery Intelligence. He also served as artillery chief of one of Artsakh's military districts. From 2018 to 2020, he served as First Deputy Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army. On 24 February 2020, he was appointed Minister of Defense by President

Bako Sahakyan Bako Sahaki Sahakyan (; born 30 August 1960) is an Armenian politician who served as the third president of the ''de facto''-independent Republic of Artsakh from 2007 to 2020. He is the longest-serving president of Artsakh. He was first elected ...

and was reappointed by President

Arayik Harutyunyan Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan (; born 14 December 1973) is an Armenian politician who served as the fourth president of the Republic of Artsakh from May 2020 to September 2023. Under his predecessor Bako Sahakyan, he served as the sixth and last ...

on 8 June. Harutyunyan made a call for battle during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. On 27 October 2020, the president of Artsakh announced that Harutyunyan was relieved of his position after being wounded in fighting, replacing him with Mikael Arzumanyan. A video showing a

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

strike on a car that allegedly belonged to Harutyunyan began circulating online. However, the spokesperson of the president of Artsakh denied the footage had anything to do with Harutyunyan's injuries. On October 28, 2020, the president of Artsakh announced his decision to grant Jalal Harutyunyan the title

Hero of Artsakh Hero of Artsakh () was the highest title of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. According to the official website of the President of Artsakh, the title Hero of Artsakh "is awarded for exceptional services in the defense of the state, streng ...

. He was discharged from hospital in early December 2020. In January 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia announced that a criminal case had been opened already in October 2020 on the attempt on Harutyunyan's life made during the war, and stated that no one had been charged in connection with the case yet. In February 2021, by the order of Vagharshak Harutyunyan, Defense Minister of Armenia, Harutyunyan was appointed to the post of the Head of the Military Control Service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. On 2 September 2022, the Investigative Committee of Armenia announced that a criminal case had been opened against Jalal Harutyunyan on two counts of "careless attitude towards military service" during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. As a result, his tenure as Head of the Military Control Service was suspended. According to the prosecution, Harutyunyan misidentified enemy forces as friendly during fighting near the village of Cuvarlı (in the

Fuzuli District Fuzuli District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the south-west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khojavend, Aghjabadi, Beylagan, Jabrayil, and the ...

of Azerbaijan), leading to casualties and the loss of positions and materiel on the Armenian side. Harutyunyan was found guilty, and on 7 February 2025 he was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months' imprisonment. The general's lawyer stated that the verdict will be appealed.

Dates of rank

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harutyunyan, Jalal 1974 births Living people Heroes of Artsakh Defence ministers of the Republic of Artsakh Artsakh military personnel People from Khojaly District Armenian military personnel of the Nagorno-Karabakh War Armenian military personnel of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War Artsakh University alumni