Robert Abajyan (; 16 November 1996 – 2 April 2016) was an

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 ...

n junior sergeant in 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 ...

Defense Army. He was posthumously awarded the "

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 ...

" which is the highest honorary title of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh. Abajyan fought alone for several hours against special forces groups of the

Azerbaijani Armed Forces The Azerbaijani Armed Forces () is the military of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. It was re-established according to the country's Law of the Armed Forces on 9 October 1991. The original Azerbaijan Democratic Republic's armed forces were ...

during the Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes of 2016 in the northeast line of contact on the night of 1–2 April. He gestured as if to surrender, and then pulled out a

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

and blew up the approaching Azerbaijani soldiers with himself.

Biography

Early life

Abajyan was born in 1996 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 ...

. In 2003, he attended Yerevan's Basic School No. 147 in

Kanaker-Zeytun District Kanaker-Zeytun () is one of the 12 districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, located in the northeastern part of the city. As of the 2022 census, the population of the district is 73,834. Located on a hill overlooking the central part of Yer ...

. He graduated in 2012 and attended Yerevan State Basic Medical College, which he graduated in 2014 with a degree in

dental technology A dental technician is a member of the dental team who, upon prescription from a dental clinician, constructs custom-made restorative and dental appliances. There are four major disciplines within dental technology. These are ''fixed prosthesis ...

. He then attended Medical Institute named after Mother Teresa later same year.

Military service

Abajyan went to compulsory military service in 2014. Due to high military performance, he was promoted to junior sergeant.

Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes

On the night of 1–2 April 2016 along the northeastern part of the NKR-Azerbaijan contact line, units of the

carried out large-scale attacks against the Armenian side. After the use of artillery, groups of Azerbaijani forces commenced an infantry attack. Under the leadership of captain Armenak Urfanyan, a smaller number of Armenian border soldiers started to provide heavy resistance. After two failed attempts of penetration and a loss of a tank, Azerbaijani forces withdrew to their initial positions and resumed the artillery bombardments on the contact line. Captain Urfanyan and Yazidi-Armenian machine-gunner

Kyaram Sloyan Kyaram or Qyaram Sloyan (; 27 April 1996 – 1/2 April 2016) was an Artsakh Defense Army soldier who was killed during the 2016 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes. After his death, he was beheaded, with videos and pictures showing Azerbaijani soldi ...

were soon killed. After the death of the commander, Robert Abajyan, who had suffered a wound in his leg by that time, took it upon himself to proceed with the resistance. After the penetration of Azerbaijani forces inside the line, he brought his wounded comrade machine-gunner Andranik Zohrabyan into the trench cell, which was located at a distance of 30 meters (98 feet). In the trench cell Abajyan contacted the battalion commander and provided valuable information on the operational situation. He informed about possible dangers to the commander of the group that hurried to aid. After Andranik Zohrabyan bled to death, Abajyan continued to fight alone from the cell against a large number of enemy forces. After spotting the approaching Azerbaijani soldiers, he attracted their attention by raising his hands and pretended to surrender, while secretly keeping an exposed

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

. Allowing two Azerbaijani soldiers to approach, Abajyan blew himself up with a grenade, committing suicide. It's not clear if he could have killed or wounded any enemy soldier with his action. Having made that decision, he radioed in and said, "Mister Colonel, Mister Colonel, I want you to tell everyone that in this position my men have died, my brothers have died, there have been Turks on this soil. I am now dragging (Inaudible) I want you to tell everyone, anyone that gives up this position they're mother (explosion)." On 8 April, after a mutual agreement was reached in advance between both parties, the bodies of Abajyan and Zohrabyan were found as a result of body searching operations.

Funeral

On 11 April 2016, Abajyan was buried in the Yerablur Military Pantheon. Funeral ceremonies were held in front of St. John the Baptist Church in

Hero of Artsakh

Abajyan was posthumously awarded the highest Honorary Title "

" and the Order of the "Golden Eagle", "for exclusive bravery and courage shown during the defense of the NKR state border in the course of the large-scale military operations from 2 to 5 April". He became the 24th "Hero of Artsakh" awardee, as well as the youngest person ever to hold the title at 19 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abajyan, Robert 1996 births 2016 deaths Heroes of Artsakh Military personnel from Yerevan Armenian military personnel killed in action Burials at Yerablur Artsakh military personnel 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes