Samvel Jamili Karapetyan (; born September 11, 1962), also known by his nom de guerre Oganovsky, is an Armenian military commander 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 participated 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 ...

. He held the rank of major general in 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 ...

prior to its disbandment in 2024, and has received the award

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 ...

Biography

Karapetyan was born on September 11, 1962, in

Stepanakert Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...

in the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

, then a part of 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 ...

. He served in the Soviet military from 1981 to 1983. He participated in the

Karabakh movement The Karabakh movement (), also known as the Artsakh movement (), was a national mass movement in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1991 that advocated for the transfer of the mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast ...

to unite Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and in the defense of Armenian settlements from 1988. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Karapetyan became commander of the Central Defense District (a regiment based in Stepanakert) of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army. His unit achieved a number of prominent victories during the war. Karapetyan was wounded twice during the war: once during the Battle of Kalbajar and again more severely near

Horadiz Horadiz is a city and municipality in the Fuzuli District of Azerbaijan, located on the left bank of the Aras river. As of 2019, it had a population of 7,600 people. History During the Russian Empire, the village of Horadiz was part of the Jeb ...

. Karapetyan continued to command the Central Defense District after the war until 2000, when he was appointed deputy commander of the Artsakh Defense Army. He held this position until 2019, when he resigned. In 2019, BBC's Russian-language service published an article revealing that Armenian investigators believe that Karapetyan commanded a group of soldiers from Nagorno-Karabakh that fired on protestors on March 1, 2008, during the

2008 Armenian presidential election protests A series of anti-government riots took place in Armenia following 2008 Armenian presidential election, presidential elections held on 19 February 2008. Protests broke out in the Armenian capital Yerevan, organized by supporters of presidential ...

, resulting in the deaths of 10 people. The article was based on Karapetyan's questioning by the Special Investigative Service of Armenia in relation to the March 1 case, a copy of which the BBC acquired. During the questioning, Karapetyan confirmed that he commanded a unit brought to Yerevan from Nagorno-Karabakh during the March 1 events but denied that there was any order to shoot people. After the contents of the questioning were made public, Karapetyan confirmed the authenticity of the document, reiterated that there was no order to fire upon protestors and declared his readiness to repeat what he said during his interrogation at the trial of ex-president

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second Presiden ...

. On May 10, 2022, Karapetyan was arrested in Stepanakert in relation to a shooting in Renaissance Square. He was soon released after signing an affidavit not to leave the country and charged with hooliganism and illegal possession of a weapon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karapetyan, Samvel Heroes of Artsakh Armenian military leaders 1962 births Living people Artsakh military personnel Armenian military personnel of the Nagorno-Karabakh War People from Stepanakert 20th-century Armenian military personnel 21st-century Armenian military personnel