Armenia’s president to be in Moscow on Day of Victory

“I believe Armenia’s president should be and will be present at the major celebrations, the ones held in Moscow, so I will be in Moscow, we have already received an invitation, and I will participate in the key events. In fact, it is a bright holiday, and we should celebrate it wholeheartedly,” the president said. 

The president stressed Armenians had their active contribution to the defense of the Soviet Union, and said Armenians’ approach to war “is probably a bit different from that of other nations”. 

In the beginning of this war, there were 2.8 million ethnic Armenians living in the Soviet Union, of them 1 million 800,000 in Soviet Armenia. Some 600,000 Armenians joined the Soviet army as conscripts or volunteers during the way, of them 314,000 have never returned, Sargsyan said. 

“It is every ninth Armenian; almost 12% of the overall number of Armenians in the Soviet Union was killed during the Great Patriotic War. It is a large number, bearing in mind that no military operations took place on the territory of Armenia, which means no civilians were affected,” Sargsyan said. 

During the war, over 600,000 Armenians were drafted to the Soviet Army, over 300,000 of them were killed in the battles. A hundred and six Armenians were awarded Hero of the Soviet Union, including legendary pilot Nelson Stepanyan and Marshall of the Soviet Union Hovhannes Baghramyan who received the award twice. Twenty-seven Armenian became full cavaliers of the Order of Glory. 

Armenians’ contribution to the victory included major army commanders, such as twice Hero of the Soviet Union Marshall Hovhannes Baghramyan, Hero of the Soviet Union and marshall of armored troops Hamazasp Babajanyan, aviation marshall Sergey Khudiakov (Armenak Khanferyants), Hero of the Soviet Union fleet admiral Ivan Isakov (Hovhannes Isahakyan). 

Armenia sent six motor-rifle divisions to the frontline, including the 39th Tamanyan division that reached Berlin. About 100,000 ethnic Armenians were involved in the resistance movement in WWII and fought as part of the allies’ armies. –0--