MORE THAN LIFE

Lt Col Rudik Hakobyan inherited his love and devotion to the uniform from his father, Edik Hakobyan, a senior lieutenant of the reserve, who served in the system with impeccable devotion for many years, and fought in the suicide squad during the Artsakh liberation war.

… After graduating from high school, Rudik was admitted and graduated with honors from the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University. One of the frontier troops was waiting for the hero of this feature.

During the fighting in April, Rudik’s military unit was at the center of the fighting. He was then the chief of staff of the battalion.

That day in April was like any other ordinary day; the battalion handed over the shift, went down to a permanent location, and hurried home at the end of the day. The officers’ apartments were not far from the military unit.

The darkness was getting thicker. Gunfire sounds could be heard from time to time. This time, however, they became more frequent. The officers of the building hurried to the military unit.

The news coming from the positions was not encouraging; there was a movement of the enemy’s forces and equipment.

At the instruction of the command, each rushed to his unit to prepare for the appropriate action.

Tracing bullets pierced the sky; it was a torrent of fire. The mind was constantly working in two hot directions: debt to the homeland, responsibility and family … The heart almost flew out of anxiety, crawling towards the house. You see, did they manage to get out, were they saved, didn’t they stay on the road? The whole road network was vulnerable to the enemy. Only after eight or nine hours did he find out that his family was in a safe place, that the hours of that uncertainty seemed so long, so hard and painful …

… The enemy had launched a large-scale attack along the entire line of contact between Artsakh and Azerbaijan. Putting his entire arsenal to work, it used all types of weapons, targeting both military bases and peaceful settlements.

“You should have seen how correctly and competently our 18-20-year-old boys reacted to the enemy’s actions, everyone knew his task clearly and did an excellent job. They were fighting as if they had been fighting for a thousand years. It is true that our service is located in one of the most dangerous parts of the front line, in the territory of the enemy, which is stuck like a wedge, and our soldiers often prevented the enemy’s sabotage, damaged drones, but not on that scale. The commander did his job with glory,” he did not hide his pride. “Unfortunately, military operations are not without losses, the savage “signature” of the enemy, the monstrous essence was revealed once again. It is an indescribable pain when you see the tortured body of your comrade-in-arms.

In time, the enemy changed its weapons and ammunition, but essentially remained the same, the same bloodthirsty killer.”

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The battalion commander, Lt Col Rudik Hakobyan is currently taking courses at the Command and Staff Academy, but admits that his mind is in the military unit with the soldiers, but most importantly, a love for the homeland that is more than life itself.

By ALIS ALAVERDYAN

Photo by SIPAN GYULUMYAN