It was the third month of 18-year-old Aram Aleksanyan’s military service when the war in Artsakh broke out. On October 27th, he was injured after a drone hit a group of officers in his military unit. Aram spent about two months in the hospital for bone fractures before being discharged. Aram’s brother, Aleksandr, 20, was not so lucky. He is currently in a coma after sustaining brain injuries from Azeri cluster munitions, according to his mother, Silva. He was supposed to have been discharged from the military this month. The boys’ family members were evacuated from their house in Artsakh’s Hadrut Region on September 30th, when shelling intensified. Since then, Silva, her husband Vahe, their younger sons, Artak, 15, Arsen, 8, and Vahe’s mother Arevhat, have been renting a house in Yerevan. Their house in Artsakh has since been captured by Azeri forces. “We had land there; my husband grew wheat, lentils, and vegetables. We had a house there, the kids attended school. Now they have to adapt to a new school life here in Yerevan, which is hard. It’s especially hard for Arsen, as he misses his teacher,” said Silva. The family don’t know how long they will stay in Yerevan, but one thing for sure is that everything they had in Artsakh is now gone. The FAR Children’s Center has helped the family with blankets and hygiene supplies. A relative in Russia is also assisting them financially so they can get by until the parents can find new jobs.
“For now on, only the life of my eldest son matters,” Silva said. “We want him to recover, and then we will be able to think about the future.”