Lyudmila Petrosyan, who was forcibly displaced from the occupied Republic of Artsakh, told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net, that her son was considered missing as a result of a large explosion at a fuel warehouse in the Askeran region on September 25.
“My sons were on the front line and witnessed terrible things. In the evening, the Head of the village came and said, ‘Petrosyan, we are evacuating the children, they took Charektar, we have losses.’ I was already losing consciousness. They shot with a “Grad”, I had no hope that my sons would come back alive. One of my sons called and said that he cannot come, so I should take his children as well. The Russian army was also near my house, I was thinking why they are so indifferent. They did not say that we will protect you, where are you going?” she said.
According to our interlocutor, they were shooting from all sides.
“We witnessed the genocide, but with cars. My other son also came and said, “Mom, why did you stop? They are approacing the village.” Then we saw how they began destroying the villages, they were already reaching Horatagh. There were two bridges to cross before Stepanakert. Our army was fighting in that part so that they would not take the road. We saw tanks on the road, we saw fighting. My son, who was the victim of the explosion, was the first to cross the bridge. No one was thinking that there might be an accident, we drove fast. They were bombing,” Mrs. Lyudmila said.
They somehow reached Stepanakert. They stayed there for several days; they were among the last people to leave the city.
“I said, all of Stepanakert has left, Why do we stay we are left, why are we sitting here?” My son said that he is going to buy fuel; he went and we have no news of him. He left a seven-month-old child. They checked at the Hakari Bridge, but they had already done their dirty work. The Russians stood on one side, the Turks on the other. We passed, and came to Goris,” she said.
Our interlocutor noted that what had happened was genocide. “This is the fourth time I have run away. We ran away without clothes, without documents.”
She stated that according to her information, all those who remained in the villages were slaughtered.
“I was not a witness, we ran away,” she said.
Mrs. Lyudmila noted that on the day when Karvachar “fell” there was no longer a smile on her face.
“I knew that we should have expected this day in Lachin.”
“Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net is aimed at collecting the memories and testimonies of citizens forcibly displaced from Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan, about the genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh committed by Azerbaijan, atrocities, the days of war, the path of deportation, etc.
Iravaban.net seeks help from citizens who will voluntarily agree to translate materials into different languages: Russian, English, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Georgian, Chinese…
You can write to our e-mail address at: [email protected]
Details in the video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
