Sev Hovaz () is 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 ...

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

and

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

that 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 ...

on behalf of 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 ...

History

The unit was founded in 1989 by locals from Janfida and other nearby villages. In 1990 the unit had 69 members form the "Armavir Volunteer Company" which eventually swelled to a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

fighting in the First Nagorno-Karabakh war seeing 11 casualties with 9 members being decorated for their service. After the war the militia and its leadership became active politically, with its founder Rustam Gasparyan being elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

as a member of

Prosperous Armenia Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP; , abbreviated as ԲՀԿ BHK), is a conservative list of political parties in Armenia, political party in Armenia. It was founded by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan on 30 April 2004, when the constituent congress of the ...

. He led Sev Hovaz during the

Second 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 Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounding occupied territories. It was a major esca ...

in 2020 where on October 17, he and his son where killed by an Azerbaijani

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

strike.

Coup attempt

During the

2024 Armenian coup attempt allegations On 18 September 2024, the Government of Armenia announced that the National Security Service (NSS) had thwarted a coup attempt by Armenian Russophiles armed, trained, and financed by the Russian Federation. Background Armenia–Russia relatio ...

, where the Armenian government claimed that

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

was fostering, training, and coordinating militants to topple

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

, the only member of the plotters who had their identity revealed was Serob Gasparian, the current commander of Sev Hovaz and an outspoken critic of the government. Gasparian plead not-guilty, however, did not deny that there was a coup attempt, rather that his connection to militant Armenian groups in Russia did not violate any laws. The Armenian government argued that Gasparian had been in contact with the Russian-organized Arbat Battalion and had facilitated the travel of various former citizens of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

to an Arbat base where they were trained and paid by the Russian government to return to Armenia and train other militants to ultimately stage a coup.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War Armenian militant groups Armenian nationalism