Lena Matevosyan, forcibly displaced from the occupied Republic of Artsakh, told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project, that she was forcibly displaced from Stepanakert, a city in the occupied Artsakh Republic.

She is an actress by profession, worked for 7 years in the Stepanakert Drama Theater, and performed many roles.

Lena tells that the theater building was not in good condition and it was her dream to have it repaired.

“It was a very beautiful architectural construction and I considered that theater the heart of Artsakh. I was waiting with a dream when it would be repair. I couldn’t say goodbye to anything in Artsakh, not even my brother’s grave, but I left the child with the elders and went out. I went to that building and saw that it remained as a dream and was not repaired. I only said goodbye to the mother theater In Stepanakert,” she said.

Our interlocutor emphasizes that her life and the life of her family changed after 27 September, 2020, when the enemy unleashed the war.

“We lost my 20-year-old brother, he was a conscript soldier. He died on 21 October and we returned to Stepanakert with the whole family on the 22nd. They let my family out of the village of Tegh, but they didn’t let me go, they said that the road is dangerous, we allow only the parents to go. I stayed all night at the location of Tegh village, hoping that they would let me go and find a car., I arrived in Stepanakert, in the morning in a car carrying bread to the positions, so that at least I could say goodbye to my brother. After all that, the life of my family changed, but we returned to Artsakh without hesitation, because we couldn’t imagine how we could leave our graves there and come back. Every time I thought, well, I have a younger brother, what about him, is it right to stay in Artsakh or should I go? My parents did not share this with me. And my husband was always in a good mood, he said we should stay, we have a half-built house here. Even during the siege, he continued to invest in that house. I said: I feel, we will not live in this house,” our interlocutor said.

The nine months of the illegal blockade of Artsakh were particularly difficult for Lena, as she would soon give birth to her first child.

“It was both a psychological struggle and a physical one. Every month we expected that the road would be opened, but I did not expect that it should be opened, it was already clear to me that the road would not be opened, at least not in a peaceful way. I always said that they will not let us leave here, they will definitely commit genocide, and I always imagined how they were… I always said that all our dreams in Artsakh had the same plot, because we were all in the same psychology. Whoever told his dream, it was almost the same. I was expecting the opposite picture, it seemed to me that most of them would not be saved,” she said.

Lena had great difficulty recalling what happened, it was difficult to relive it. She was at home on 19 September, 2023, when the enemy unleashed another aggression against peaceful Artsakh.

“The whole family sat at the table to eat bread. It was one o’clock when the bombing started. Our house is located in the area called Krkzhan. I immediately wrapped my baby in a blanket and ran out of the house. I did not return home any more. Our houses were in the part where the enemy was already located and it was dangerous to go home. We stayed in the basement, and then went to our relatives’ house. We stayed one night in the basement of the church. That one night was like an underworld for me, I had the impression that this one day lasted for a century. Darkness, crying, bombardment, fear, anxiety, it was like hell for me. When the bombardment stopped, from that part called Krkzhan, you could hear how the enemy was approaching, and their shots were getting closer. We went to the airport; they said it would be more or less safe there. We did not reach the airport because there were already quite a few cars, the bombing had not stopped. An open space and the child in my arms, my hands went limp, because it seemed to me that a bomb was about to fall and that’s all,” she said.

Lena left Artsakh with her husband’s parents on 25 September. The husband and his brother went to find gas. When the gas depot exploded, her husband’s brother was there, he went missing.

“My husband did not come back, he was looking for his brother for two days, and then the DNA was confirmed here. We lost many friends and acquaintances,” she said.

Lena said that she was so scared before reaching the Hakari Bridge that she didn’t even feel fear anymore when crossing the bridge.

“After passing Hakari, an emotional downpour began for me. I felt that I was in more pain than before I passed, because I realized that there is no way back, everything remained there,” our interlocutor says.

She says: We left us in Artsakh, we merely brought our physical body.

She notes that what happened in Artsakh was a massacre, a genocide, because everyone knows what happened in the border villages.

————————

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]

To donate for realization of the project: https://iravaban.net/en/become-a-supporter

Armenian Lawyers’ Association is the author of the idea “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net and is the owner of copyright of the materials created within the framework of the project. In case of using the materials produced within the framework of the project, it is necessary to obtain the written permission of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association.

Details in the video.

Hasmik Sargsyan