Brothers Arthur and Hayk Aleksanyans graduated with honors, then Arthur entered medical school and Hayk entered the University of Architecture. Arthur graduated from the military medical faculty, entered a residency in plastic surgery, and Hayk graduated from the master’s program. Both were conscripts during the last war, Hayk in Hadrut, Arthur in Sisian, Arthur as the acting head of the military unit’s medical service, and Hayk as the commander of the division’s reconnaissance platoon. The brothers fought in the hottest spots, fought heroically against the enemy. Both were injured in the line of duty. We talk to Hayk Aleksanyan, the younger of the Alexanyan brothers, about the upbringing of an individual, the formation of a civic image, military duty and war.

-Hayk, it is written in your personal file that you graduated from school with honors, due to high progress in the engineering university you studied for free …

-My brother Arthur also graduated from school with honors and studied at the Medical University for free.

-You were both exemplary soldiers, you bravely defended the homeland, you were wounded. In your opinion, how is the image of an honest citizen, a conscientious young man, a virtuous person, a defender of the homeland formed? Are human virtues innate or are they shaped by certain influences? Are there key actors?-

-No one can deny the natural, hereditary features. However, the formation of an individual’s way of thinking and behavior is greatly influenced by the reality around them: the family, environment, schools, people with whom they interacts. It would be perfect if an individual’s family, society, and schools shared the same values ​​and ideas. When I was a child, my family morality had significant contradictions with foreign values.

You, an army soldier and officer, were you ready for the impending war, psychologically and physically?

-We were fully prepared psychologically. We were physically more than ready for the battle to come.

-Yes? Do you still think that you were physically ready for this war?

-Now I am more convinced. On September 25, we rose to the positions with alarm as the enemy had gathered forces at the border. On September 27, the Azerbaijani-Turkish army attacked on all fronts. The balance of power was such that, according to all military forecasts, the war was to end in a few days. We resisted for 44 days and inflicted incomparably great losses on the enemy.

-Hayk, was that the task of our army to defend itself as long as possible, to meet the enemy on the outskirts of Stepanakert with the loss of thousands of victims and military equipment?

-I can talk on behalf of our unit. We did the impossible; we fought selflessly, with great professionalism. Our hits were as accurate as possible, we defended with maximum efficiency, we damaged the enemy as much as possible. Our soldiers have shown thousands of examples of heroism, ingenuity, patriotism and self-sacrifice.

-What do we have as a result …

-The Armenian soldier and officer were not defeated, I, my platoon and my military unit were not defeated.

The Armenian soldier and officer did the best they could have expected. This battle was the heroism of our soldiers. Yes, our soldier was not able to destroy many enemy drones, to fight against the Bayraktars. Could any superman in the world do that? Yes, the strike drones won this battle. But it was not the soldier who had to fight against the drone.

-How did you get injured?

-I was fighting in Hadrut. The enemy was “clearing” the area with drones, then moving forward with tanks and armored vehicles. I did not see the enemy’s manpower, I fought against drones and armored vehicles. I was injured when “Kamikadze” exploded next to me. The soldier was killed, I survived.

-How many days did you fight before you were injured?

-Twenty six: I was taken to hospital. By the time I recovered and could return to the front, the was was over. Now I am in the Armavir training military unit, waiting for an order to go to my place of service.

-How did your brother get injured?

-Arthur was wounded when he was treating wounded soldiers on the battlefield and pulling them out of the line of fire under a torrent of bullets. Arthur’s leg is injured. They operated several times and installed metal devices. We hope that everything will end well.

-Hayk, what is your mood for the future?

-Much better than before the war. Ten times better when we said with the inertia of the 90s of the last century that we are the most efficient army in the region.

-I wonder what is the source of your optimism against the background of this general decline?

-No army in the world could withstand such a ratio of forces for 44 days. No army in the world could inflict such heavy losses on a state-of-the-art enemy army with such a balance of power. We fought for his strengthagainst the second NATO army. All we needed was a stronger air defense to repel a joint attack by one of NATO’s strongest armies and terrorists. Now I know that our human resources have no equal in the world. It is time to start preparing for the coming victory, all of us, each of us, to prepare for the war we must win. Let us become a country and a people that lost its homeland and lives with the determination to make up for that loss.

… At a very high price, but we have already realized that our border is not the border of our home, our family, but the border of our homeland. Now we must not defend our home, our family, but our country and people. We should think not about the welfare of our family, but about the welfare of our homeland. We must make sure that not only our children are educated and developed, but also the science and education of the whole nation, because tomorrow your compatriot child can defend the border with his scientific mind, which guarantees the safety of your child.

… We must win, because we have already understood that to steal from the homeland means to steal from yourself. To deprive a compatriot means to deprive yourself. We realized that the strength of our compatriot is our strength.

-Let’s end the conversation with this optimism.

By GAYANE POGHOSYAN