WITH OWN ARMS

By ALICE ALAVERDYAN

The legendary signal trooper of the Artsakh war, Sergey “Erka” Atarbekyan, is one of the “undisclosed” heroes. We probably know about just a small part of his accomplishments, while many of his acts have resulted in derailment of the adversary’s plans and saving many human lives.

With the help of the radio network he set up, Erka was also secretly listening to the Soviet military command in the battlefield, preventing attempts to remove the Soviet Army weapons from Armenia.
The Soviet military had realized that they were intercepted, their plans disclosed, and they were trying to find those who were exposing their plans. They even offered reward. To avoid exposure, Sergey and his son, Ara, moved to the special residence at the Odzun Airport. They also were provided small house where they kept their radio stations.

Photos provided by AREG VARDANYAN and the Atarbekyan family archive